Felix Felicis
by starsinjars
Summary: "I discovered something. You never lose. Never. Even when I rig the game to my favor, you're still unbeatable. There's something about you that causes fortune to shine on you." Ven's mouth was dry as Axel's smile grew wider. "A-Axel is the winner..." [Discontinued]
1. Chapter 1

A/N : Geez, I never knew how complicated it is to publish something. This has the be the fourth time I've done it… .

Disclaimer: Characters Used Belong to Square Enix. This disclaimer goes for this and all proceding chapters.

Welcome to my first ever multi-chaptered fic! I've had this idea for a while, and I finally typed it up.

Special thanks to my friend, who beta'd - Brigid - who wouldn't tell me her username! .

Just so you know, this is yaoi. And eventually, I will write lemon. First time! :D And there's cursing, too. :P Okay, anyway, please review so I know how to please you readers, and also so I know who's actually following the story that I could actually update it.

Enjoy~

Story Start!

"Congrats. You are now the parents of identical boy twins. Only born ten minutes apart. The younger one is on the right, and the older on the left." The doctor said in a bored tone as he hands the mother her newborn children. They looked exactly alike, having crystal blue eyes and just a strand golden blond hair.

Honestly, the parents just wanted to finally hold their new children and could care less for what the doctor said.

Not that the doctor cared either.

Childbirth was no longer a miracle to him, but a chore. He just wanted this day to be over with so he can go check out the new casino in Las Vegas that his friend opened up.

"They're beautiful, honey." The man squeezed the woman's hand.

"They're going to look just like you… I hope that we can tell them apart." The woman smiled at her husband.

The doctor sighed, and glanced at the parents, then to the babies. He glanced at the baby on the right with a curious look in his eye.

"You can tell that they are different…" He said, mostly to himself than to the parents. The doctor looked at the youngest twin, and focuses on the one of the baby's arms. On his right arm was a strange birthmark, a small circle of a spade, heart, diamond, and clover. "Interesting…" he muttered to himself as he takes notes of the child on his clipboard.

The parents ignored him entirely and continued to admire the babies. The doctor rolled his eyes and continues to subtly study the child to prevent drawing attention to himself. The child himself already gained all of the doctor's attention because of his strange birthmark. He decided to eavesdrop on the couple in case they say something of value about his newest fascination.

"Cloud, what should we name them?" The woman looked at her husband.

"Tifa, let's use the names we agreed on." He gazed to the left, "We'll name him Ventus," He looks to the right, "And we'll call him Roxas."

"Ven! Ven! Open up!" Loud banging can be heard from the door.

A figure on the bed groans. Gradually, he turns on the lamp on the bedside table and gets out of bed.

"What was I just dreaming about?" he murmurs to himself.

His eyes grow wide awake from the loud banging. He dashes quietly to the bathroom, looks in the mirror and stares at his reflection. Doesn't look any different. He still has azure blue eyes and messy blond hair. But that wasn't what he was focused on. Wearing a loose, long light blue sweater with blue fish and dark blue shorts, his hand rushes to his right arm.

He feels a bandage on his arm and smiles to himself. The smile turns to a frown as he leaves the bathroom and walks slowly to the source of the banging – the front door.

"Who is it?"

"Who is it?" The person on the other side of the door starts to chuckle. "Thanks, Ven, I feel so unloved. Here's a hint. He's drop dead gorgeous, has spiky brown hair, and his name starts with an 'S'. You have the lucky privilege of calling him your best friend."

Ven opens the door, and pulls a man in a dark blue button shirt with slacks inside. "Sora! You idiot! Do you want everyone to know I'm here? Wait. Why do you look fancy so early in the morning?"

"Well, Ven, maybe you sh-" Sora looks around. "Holy shit! It's so messy!"

Ven rolled his eyes. He knew that his apartment is very small without Sora reminding him. It was only a bedroom with a small bed and a matching dresser with a lamp, and that tiny bathroom. There were piles of clothes everywhere, concealing everything - like a beeping alarm. A first aid kit could be seen on the bathroom floor, wide open with rolls of bandages.

Sora walked towards a pile of clothes and digs. After digging for a few minutes, Ven could see something glowing within the pile. Sora picked it up. A phone flashes '_13 Missed Calls_'.

"No wonder you couldn't hear me calling." Sora glanced at the clock on the phone. "Look at the time! We're gonna be late!" Ven looks at the clock. It reads 4:48.

"Shit."

By the time Ven is dressed and outside - wearing a white button long-sleeved shirt and denim jeans - Sora already has the car running.

"Get in the damn car! We have ten minutes to get to the other side of town to make the meeting!"

Ven rushed to the passenger door and slammed the door shut. Sora floored the car onto the road and into the express way. Ven stared at Sora, realizing who the driver of the car was.

"I didn't know you can drive."

Sora laughs. "I can't."

"WHAT?"

"Relax. I didn't have time to call for a cab, we only have ten minutes! I _can_ drive. It's just that I'm not legally able to. I'm only sixteen, remember? You have to be seventeen to legally drive here, I think." Sora stopped talking to look fully at the road, and swerved into the street. Ven tightened his grip on his seat belt. He isn't so scared about being late anymore.

He's scared that Sora will get them killed before they even get to their destination.

At least there were no cars on the road as obstacles . Or victims.

_That's weird… Isn't this the time for rush hour? And yet not a car in sight…._

Ven looked out the window, searching for any cars on the road. Sora was driving too fast for him to truly see anything. Ven doubt that Sora could get a license even if he tried. How did he even get a permit? Wait… did he even have one? He was starting to get nauseous and closed his eyes. He could hear Sora's voice again and started focusing on that.

Sora continued, "Also, I'm too lazy to actually apply for a license. Since when did you care about following the law? We break the law all the time. I'm pretty sure that the legal age for gambling is twenty-one…" Sora does a sharp turn and stops the car in front of a corporate building. He then parks the car.

Ven sighed in relief, opened his eyes, and tried to stop shaking. He started to leave the car, but Sora grabbed his arm before he could.

"Ooh! Before I forget, how old are you?"

"How old am I? I'm for-." Ven pauses, his eyes wide. "Fifteen…" he whispers.

Sora took out a small envelope from his back pocket.

"Happy birthday, Ven! Open it later, we only have - "

He looked at the clock. "Shit! We're almost out of time! Let's go!"

He threw open the door and darts to the corporate building. Ven stays in the car.

He decided to open the envelope anyway, regardless of what Sora said.

Ven opened the envelope to find a card. In the card, he sees a rather crude drawing of what seems to be him and Sora walking on the beach eating ice cream. Sea-salt ice cream, it seems, from the color blue that Sora colored with. Ven reads the card itself:

_Dear Ven,_

_Happy Birthday! I know that we haven't known each other for very long, but I feel as though I've known you my whole life. As for your present, anytime you show me this card until your sixteenth birthday, I'll treat both of us some of your favorite sea-salt ice cream and we can eat it together. I know it's not much, but I know how much you love the stuff. Anyway, happy birthday!_

_Your Friend, Sora_

Ven smiled at the gift and glanced up. His eyes find Sora and he finds himself frowning slightly and tears softly streaming from his eyes. He watches as Sora darts to the front doors of the building and quickly tries to enter.

Sora always forgets that the entrance they need to take to enter the building was on the right side, and that the front doors were only used as a front so that people would only _think_ it was a corporate building, and not an underground casino.

Ven sighs as he manages to dry up his tears and quickly checks his eyes in the mirror.

No tears or red eyes.

_I'm too good at this…_

Ven quickly gets out of the car to catch up to Sora.

Axel Sinclair was one of the most known figures in the world of gambling.

Not only was he the owner to one of the richest businesses in the world, Sinclair Co. - a company that managed the pleasure business - he also owned most of the casinos in Atlantic City.

He was also known for being the unluckiest person ever - always gambling big, but always losing.

No one had ever seen him actually have a winning hand. In any of the games he played.

And yet he still gambled every chance he could, which would be every day. Money was never a problem.

His favorite games were roulette, poker, blackjack, craps, and birdcage.

Even when using his own money in his casinos, he still owned the joint so he never really lost any money.

For some reason, he didn't like Las Vegas, which disappointed many casino owners there.

Which was why, today, he was at a casino in Atlantic City that _looked_like a corporate building.

But if you knew your information, you would enter through the _right_side of the building, and after walking past what seemed to be a bunch of offices and to an elevator, and clicked the picture of a die on the button panel, you would be brought to an office floor that held everything that a casino should and does have.

And Axel knew his information.

The Gambler of Fate was an underground casino that easily rivaled a casino that belonged in Sin City. It was also equally filled with the sin that could be found in Sin City. Nothing there was legal from what Axel could see. It had a class though. The owner, Luxord, is one of his top customers.

Officially, he was on business. He was supposed to be there at 6:00 to discuss business matters with Luxord.

This was the first time he's ever been to this casino. This was also the first time he came to a business meeting coming early. He came at least an hour earlier than the scheduled time. He wanted to actually check out the casino and gamble a bit before going in to meet for business.

Like Axel always said, "Pleasure before business."

Of course, he didn't take into account that his business _was_pleasure, but no one ever pointed that out to him.

At least, no one ever pointed it out to him and lived.

It should have been almost noon. Since it was early, not many people were here. At least, not many people that Axel recognized. He grabbed a cocktail when walking up to one of the booths that would let him convert his money. After getting his chips, about one million dollar's worth, he decided he wanted to stay indiscreet and walked up to the nearest table with the most people. Most people being three people, two boys and a girl. The game was blackjack. They looked like high school kids. Since this was an underground casino, Axel guessed they were able to get in without any problems.

_How were they able to afford this place?_

Axel looked at these kids. The girl was a brunette and had green eyes. She was wearing a small shimmering orange dress. She looked interesting. To her left was a fat kid with brown eyes, also a brunette. Or maybe it was black. Axel didn't really care. Wearing a tux with a red bowtie, he looked quite smug in his spot. To the lovely woman's right was a skinny kid, also with brown eyes, but had sandy blond hair. He was wearing a similar tux but instead of a red bowtie, a green tie was in its place. They looked all about fifteen or so.

They did know that the point of blackjack was to beat the dealer, right?

Not that Axel ever could.

Axel glanced at the table. Looks like the round was over. Currently, the fat kid had the most money. Ten yellow chips, by the look of it, equal to about $10,000.

Axel grabbed a stool from the nearest table to add to the blackjack table and said, "Deal me in." to the dealer.

The dealer gave him a quick nod without even looking at Axel, and dealt him in.

Axel quickly put three red chips on the table without looking at his cards. His companions started wide eyed at their newest addition to their table. The chips he put in were equal to about $30,000.

The kids looked at their cards. Two of them - the boys - frowned while the girl smiled and looked at Axel.

Axel smiled back and looked at his cards.

Two of hearts and the eight of spades.

While Axel could never win, he did have a poker face that no one could read. He decided to just stay in without getting hit again. A stupid move really, but he wanted the others to think that he already had a winning hand.

The brown haired girl kept smiling as she stayed with her two cards as well, while her two companions decided to get hit.

The kid to her left got hit two more times and the kid on the right got hit three times.

After getting hit, the two kids started to frown.

Talk about having no poker face.

The dealer started to smile as he reveals his cards. A perfect hand, the ace of spades and a king of clubs.

The smile on the girl faded as everyone else revealed their cards.

Axel revealed having the two of hearts and the eight of spades. Hearing a gasp from the other players, he looked at their hands.

The fat one had the two of diamonds, six of clubs, ten of clubs, and the seven of hearts. He got a bust.

The skinny one had the seven of spades, two of diamonds, three of hearts, five of spades, and the jack of clubs. He also got a bust.

The girl had the ace of heart and the jack of spades.

So close.

After that hand, the other players left. They didn't lose that much money, but they made a great error on their part if they wanted to cheat the system. The girl caught Axel's gaze and winked at him when she left.

Axel stayed though.

He just kept on throwing chips on the table.

Getting dealt for the fifth time, after that last hand, he just lost all the chips he had.

Only Axel Sinclair can lose one million dollars in the period of five minutes.

Then again, money was never an issue with Axel Sinclair as well.

Ven had to grab Sora and drag him to the correct entrance, taking up a good chunk of the little time that they had left. He never understood why Sora kept on forgetting where the doors were, he's been in this business longer than Ven. Ven's only been here for about a week. Well, today makes a week. They stopped at the elevator doors.

Sora looked down at his watch and frowned. "Crap, we only have about two minutes."

"Don't worry, Sora. We'll make it." Ven put his hand to his friend's shoulder. Sora looked up and started to smile again. Just as he smiled back, the sound of a _ding_from the elevator filled the disguised floor.

"Look, elevator's here."

The elevator opens and the two quickly step inside. Ven takes this time to look at his watch. They only have about a minute to get to the meeting room.

After clicking the die button, Sora looked at Ven. Like, _really_stared at him. Starting to get self-conscience, Ven looked away, as if guilty.

Sora started to giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"I keep on forgetting who I'm with."

"Who you're with… Me? What's so special about being with me? It's not like I can stop time or anything."

"Really? That's news to me. Anyway, since I'm with you, maybe we'll probably end up being there a few seconds early or so..."

"Because you're with me?"

"Yeah! Oh look, we're here."

The elevator door opens and flashing lights bombard the two's eyes.

No matter how many times Ven has walked into this room, he's always blinded by these goddamn lights.

As they stepped out of the elevator, Ven could hear the sounds of people winning on the slot machines, people getting the jackpot, and shouting from getting a winning hand. Everyone was winning and the dealers looked at the elevator's latest recipients. Ven could feel gazes on both him and Sora. He sighed. He knew that this was going to happen. He was told to always come in early - when people weren't playing - on his second day here, the first time he was late. This was the second time he was late.

He tried to search the room, looking for the door to bring them into the meeting room that they had only seconds to be in.

Sora actually knew where this door was. He grabbed Ven and hauled themselves to the meeting room.

In the meeting room, it looks like everyone was there.

'Cept for the boss.

He could see Riku, Kairi… and some other people he couldn't remember the names of, sitting in chairs surrounding a table. The meeting room was the only room that looked like it belonged in a corporate building. Well, this room and the fake floor used as a cover. He could feel someone's gaze on him again. He ignored it as he scanned the room for two empty seats.

He was thinking about sitting next to Kairi, a girl whom he didn't know well but Sora did. She started about three months before he joined. But from the way she was staring at Sora, something must be happening between the two. He looked at - what's their names? - Marluxia and Larxene for some seats.

Ven then realized it was Marluxia's gaze he was feeling. He had a look of disbelief in his eyes. Marluxia frowned. He turned to Larxene and handed her a yellow chip. She smiled and took it. Ven caught her eyes and glared at her.

"Did you bet whether Sora and I would make it in time?"

She smiled, this time directed at him. "Thanks, Ven. You never let me down."

He decided not to carry out this conversation. Sora decided to sit next to Riku and Ven followed him.

He just sat down when the clock turned 12:00 noon exactly.

Ven looked around to see if anyone was late.

Of course Luxord would be late, the one who was holding this meeting in the first place.

He glanced at Sora who seemed to be beaming at him. Although Sora always stared at him, now it was getting really uncomfortable. He barely heard his words. "Thanks, Ven!"

Ven blinked. "For what?"

"We were able to make it with seconds to spare, and Luxord's late too! Man, Lady Luck really has her eyes on you!"

Ven kept quiet.

Sora grinned as he turned his back to Ven and started to talk to Riku again.

Even though Ven doesn't believe in luck, it's true that he was always lucky. Even when the odds placed him a billion to one, he never lost a game in his life, ever since he was young.

But he had a reason for that. He always had strategies that he calculated to let him win, sometimes even planning out farther than necessary.

He never understood how he won the games that relied on pure luck.

Or that people always won the games they were playing in his presence.

He didn't question it though. Too much thinking, even for him. Besides, it was because of this so-called luck that he was even able to get into a place like this. Money was money.

Even if it was obtained through illegal methods.

That's the reason why he was in this business anyway. He needed all the money he could get. He could win all these games and he always won, no matter who the opponent was or the game.

_Luck's a stupid thing._ Ven thought. _It's completely illogical and impossible._

_Then again… maybe it_was_because of this so-called luck that we were able to make it in time and that Luxord's late._

Ven shook his head to get that thought out of his mind.

_No, it was only pure coincidence that we were on time and that Luxord's late._

Kairi popped out of nowhere as she grabbed the empty seat next to Ven and sat in it. She tilted her head towards his ear and whispered, "You know, I've never even seen you lose a game. You've been here for about a week, right? What's your secret?" She gave him a look over. Ven met her gaze. He didn't like the way she was looking at him – a curious look with a hint of a smile that he might have a huge secret to his success and she just might discover it.

People have been looking at him like that for as long as he could remember.

Before he could say anything, she backed away from him. She grabbed his chair and twirled it. Now standing in front of him, she asked, "Left or right?" She stuck out both of her hands, clenched as if holding a prize. She smiled.

"What?"

"We're playing a game. Right now. So choose - left or right."

"Uhh… rig -" Ven heard a sound. "No, left."

Kairi eyes widened as she revealed her left hand. In it was a black and white chip.

"Looks like I win this little game. What was the point of it?"

She looked at him again. Ven couldn't hear her talking, but he could read her lips. "How did you do that?"

He answered out loud. "Do what?"

She bent down to his face and whispered, "How did you know that I switched the chip?" She moved back. "How did you win?" Her voice was shrill and everyone turned their attention towards them.

Ven smiled and opened his mouth to answer, but Sora beat him to it.

"That's 'cause he's been blessed by Lady Luck."

Ven stood up from his chair, frowned at Sora and stated, "Sora, for the thirteenth time, I don't believe in luck. Never have, never will."

That's when the whole room started to laugh.

Ven quickly sat back down and Luxord chose that moment to enter the room, face out of breath, and with an expression that Ven has never seen with him before. All the laughter died.

He looked afraid. He scanned the room, looking for someone.

His eyes found Ven and he calmed down and smiled at him.

Now Ven was afraid.

"Everyone, I'm glad that you could all make this meeting. Sorry for being a few minutes late, but I ran into a bit of a problem before I could come inside. It appears that Mr. Axel Sinclair is outside for our little meeting, a bit too early for my comfort."

Marluxia stood up. "Axel Sinclair? _The_Axel Sinclair?"

_Axel Sinclair? Sounds so familiar…_

Sora stood up next. "Isn't he that really rich but really unlucky businessman? He's _here_?"

_Hmm… yeah, that sounds about right…_

_No, still don't recognize him._

Ven focused back on Riku, who stood up next to Sora. He was talking. "For business? Why? What happened?"

"I… have a debt to him…"

Everyone in the room gasped. Except Ven.

"I don't get it. What's the big problem?"

Luxord walked over to his chair and sat down. He looked at Ven. "Ventus," Ven flinched from the use of his full name. "Do you know who Axel Sinclair is?"

"Um… no…?"

Luxord sighed. Sora decided to answer the question. "Ven, Axel Sinclair is the guy who always loses. He's the type of guy who could lose a million dollars in five minutes."

Larxene grabbed a paper from the table. "It looks like he _did_ this morning..."

Sora gave her a look that stabbed daggers, then turned back to Ven. "Anyway, yeah, he's a sucker in the gambling business. Unfortunately for Luxord, he's a god in the business world."

"What does he do?"

Larxene answered, avoiding Sora's glare. "That's a pretty broad question. For the sake of saving time, I'll just say he's a drug lord. And there's a lot of druggies out there."

"And Luxord's in debt…"

Everyone in the room started to look at Luxord. He laughed weakly. "I might have bought more than I could afford…" He looked and Ven and smiled.

Ven shivered. He was getting a bad feeling, and that can't be good. He needs to get out of this situation before he got too deep in it.

Ven stood up and headed toward the door. "This isn't what I signed up for. I'm out."

"Tough luck." Luxord laughed. He waved his hand towards the door.

A giant, built man with orange hair covered the door. Ven nearly bumped into him.

"Sit back down, Ventus. Or do you want Lexaeus to help you?"

Ven slowly and quietly walked backwards to his seat, his face not leaving Lexaeus'. He slumped into his seat.

Luxord smiled. "Good. Remember, you have a contract. You signed yourself to me until you receive the amount you win in games."

"I'm already halfway there."

"I'm taking your current winnings. You have to start over. And I'm raising it to 10 billion dollars."

Ven widen his eyes. "What the fuck, Luxord?"

Luxord looked at him straight in the eye. "You made over 80 million dollars in this week alone. At this rate, you'll make a billion dollars next week. I just can't let you leave."

Ven clenched his fingers under the table but kept a straight face.

"Back to the matter at hand. Everyone, leave the room. We'll have the meeting later today."

Everyone started getting back up.

"Not you, Ventus."

Ven sat back down, his eyes glued to the table.

He could feel Sora put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ven, we'll wait for you outside."

Kairi popped up again. "Me too."

Kairi whispered into his ear, "_We need to talk._" She backed away and left the room.

Sora glared at her. Riku had to start dragging him out of the room.

"We'll see you later, Ven."

Now the room was empty, save for Luxord and Ven. Luxord waved his hand at Ven.

"Come closer. We're about to play a game."

Ven groaned. Every time he was alone with Luxord, he always had to play a card game.

And not the Duel Monsters kind.

Ven got out of his seat and sat next to him. Luxord began dealing a deck of cards he always has on him.

Looks like it's going to be poker today.

He took his dealt hand and looked at it. Nothing particularly useful. Just the 2 of clubs, the 2 of spades, the queen of hearts, the 8 of diamonds, and the 3 of hearts.

Just a pair of twos.

He looked at Luxord. He had a good poker face, but Ven just knew he had a good hand. He took a glance at the deck.

Luxord discarded two cards.

Ven discarded the 3, 8, and queen for the heck of it.

Drawing his new three cards, he got the 2 of diamonds, the 2 of hearts, and the ace of spades.

Ven kept a straight face. He was pretty sure that he won. As always.

Unbeknownst to Luxord, Ven fixed all of the cards in all of his decks so that he knew which cards were which.

He revealed his hand. Luxord had a full house. He beamed as he acknowledged his loss and began dealing the cards again.

Ven just sighed as he took his next hand. This time he was dealt a royal flush.

There was never a point to wining these games.

Axel was enjoying a drink, on the house, when he heard screaming.

Turning around from the bartender, he was in shock to see that _every single person_ had won the games that they were playing, and were screaming shouts of joy.

_What the hell just happened?_

He turned back at the bartender who shrugged. Nothing useful there. He got out of his seat and looked around. All the dealers were looking and focusing all their attention towards one direction. Axel followed their gazes.

They all seemed to staring at the people who just came out of the elevator. More specifically, a blond kid wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He seemed to be looking around for something.

Axel could feel a hatred for the guy from all the dealers from the room.

Interesting.

The blond's companion, a brunet, suddenly took the kid's arm and dragged him across the hall to a black door and led them inside.

Axel walked toward the door, intending on entering.

He was, however, distracted by the man who was just about to enter.

"Luxord."

Luxord turned around, his face having no expression. "Why, hello, Axel." He paused. "Why in the world are you one hour early for our arrangement?"

Axel shrugged. "That's no concern of yours. Tell me, do you have the money you owe me?"

Luxord and his poker face. "Do you need it at this very second?"

Axel smiled. "It would greatly please me if you would give me all the money you have, since that's what you owe me." Axel took out a roll of paper from his inside pocket. "This is now my casino."

Luxord broke for a split-second. A flash of fear appears on his face.

Axel liked that.

"Well, yes. It is your casino. And I was just about to tell everyone that the ownership has passed me." He paused again. "However, I think it would be best if we do a double wager, double or nothing."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Let's play one more game. This time, we'll use dice. If I win, I can keep my casino."

Axel frowned. "And what happens if I happen to win?"

Luxord bowed his head. "Whatever you desire that I could give."

Axel's thoughts trailed over to that blond haired kid. He smiled.

"Alright. You have a deal."

Ven sighed as he showed his hand for the tenth time. Again, he had a royal flush. This was the fourth time he was dealt it.

"Is there ever a point to this? Are you testing me or something? Again?" He asked as Luxord cleaned up the cards, getting ready to deal them out again - but didn't.

Luxord started examining and fiddling with the cards. He asked in a low tone, "Ventus… Just how in the world do you keep winning? You _have_ to tell me."

Ven jumped at the opportunity, speaking without thinking his words through. "If I tell you, can we stop playing? _All_the time? We never play games like these ever again?"

Luxord thought for a moment, but nodded, taking a glance at his watch. Ven could see it. It only took two minutes for them to play all those games. "Tell me how you keep winning."

Ven paused. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea if revealed his tactics. It was cheating more than anything.

But he _really_wanted to stop playing when he didn't make any money out of it. It was pointless unless he was getting paid to play. He didn't want to play _unless_ he got paid.

Ven kept his gaze on the deck of cards as he answered, "It was during the first time I came in and we played for you to test me. I'm sorry. It was late and I really wanted to go home…" Ven's mind began to wander.

Ven checked the paper he had written the address on. 10 Clover Avenue.

It was the right address.

But where was this casino?

He looked around, searching for something - anything - that would point him in the right direction. Something that would give him a sign of what to do.

That something, a feeling, told him to go and look at the right side of the building.

Desperate, he listened to it, and sneaked to the right side of the building.

There was a black door, hidden in the shadows. It didn't look fancy or anything, but Ven knew that this was the entrance that he was looking for.

He walked slowly to the door, looking around for any policemen. There weren't any. But it didn't reassure him one bit.

He was just delaying the inevitable. Ven knew that he was going to go inside anyway.

It's what _he_would do.

And he had to do what both he and what he himself would do. To live, for the both of them.

Ven shook his head. No, he wasn't dead. He's just missing.

_And I'm going to find him._

_But first, I need some money for that…_

He opened the door and peeked inside.

There wasn't a casino. It was just a plain office floor, filled with office mates.

Still, Ven walked in without even realizing that he did.

Did that guy on the phone lie to him?

But he sounded so sweet and sincere! Ven knew that he could be trusted.

He just didn't give him enough information.

All the guy told him was to come to this address if he wanted to make some money, then he hung up before Ven could ask any questions.

_No… there's something else._

Something else brought him here. Ven knew that even without that phone call, he would have ended up here that night anyway.

The people were starting to stare at him.

He avoided their gaze as he paced towards the elevator at the end of the flat and pushed the up arrow button. He waited for a second when the elevator doors opened and he quickly stepped inside.

He glanced at the button box, when a particular picture caught his eye.

_Why is there a purple die on an elevator button panel?_

He unconsciously placed his finger over the die, and touched it.

The elevator started moving.

_It was a button!_

The elevator started slowing down, and opened its doors to reveal a casino.

It must not have been open, for there were only a few people inside. Most of them were surrounding one table. Some others, like two or three other people, were playing on the slots. Ven walked swiftly and silently towards the table.

It seems that they were playing Texas Hold'em.

As Ven slinked further and deeper into the room, the people who were playing the slot machine started screaming. It would appear that they had all won the jackpot. Ven quickly stopped in his tracks and decides to watch from a distance, hidden behind a plant.

At the table, a guy with spiky brown hair was jumping.

"Omigosh, you guys! I won!" He grabbed all the chips from the table and continued jumping, this time moving away from the table. Ven scooted closer to the plant.

Everyone on the table was confused, looking at each other in skepticism. They were speechless.

Except for one person.

"How the hell did Sora win?" A girl with blonde pigtails was fuming. She shrieked, "How the hell did you get a four of a kind? With aces, nonetheless! You never win against us! You must have cheated!"

"Don't be jealous, Larxene." The guy named Sora stuck out his tongue at her.

Ven stared at Sora. His voice was so familiar…

Sora stopped jumping and turned towards Ven's direction. Ven hoped that he couldn't see him behind the plant, so he moved even closer to the plant.

Out of the blue, Ven was lifted from the ground and into the air. He was being held by a man with orange hair. Ven struggled to get out of his grasp.

Ven stammered, "H-hey! Lemme go!"

The man tightened his grip in response. "I don't think so." The man shook his head, keeping a stern look on the boy. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Ven thrash more violently to get away. He was terrified. He didn't expect to be killed today.

Ven squeaked, "I-I don't know! I was called by someone to come to this address!"

Sora made his way towards them, hands filled with multi-colored chips.

"Hey!"

Both guys turned to acknowledge him.

Sora continued, "He must be the guy that I was told to call! Hi! Umm, Ventus was it? Luxord wants to see you. You can let him down now, Lexaeus."

The man named Lexaeus didn't lower Ven, narrowing his eyes at him instead. "How did you know how to enter?"

Ven said nothing. What was he supposed to tell him?

Lexaeus, realizing he wouldn't get an answer, turned his head towards Sora.

"Sora."

Sora was playing with his winnings. "Hmmm?" he answered, not really paying attention.

"Did you tell him how to enter?" His eyes were still focused on Ven's.

Sora stopped playing with the chips as he gave the question some thought. "I don't remember doing so… but I guess I did. How else would he have known how to get in?"

Lexaeus let Ven down, still frowning, and pointed to a door. "Go in there."

Ven nodded as he walked as fast as he could to the door. He was starting to feel a little light-headed. He checked his watch. It was almost two in the morning.

Ven groaned as he opened the door and walked inside. The room was covered in full darkness.

With a snap of one's fingers, all the lights in the room suddenly turned on. In the back of the room was a man with platinum blond hair, hand raised in the air, studying at Ven. He started to fidget from his stare.

_Does he know?_

"So… this is the kid who was able to sneak into a casino and almost walk out with $13 million in winnings. Until he got caught."

_Crap, he knows._

Ven started to slowly make his way back to the door.

The man's eyes widened as he got out of his seat. "Wait! I'm not going to arrest you or anything. I just want to see something."

He was just about to touch the doorknob when the man called, "I'll pay you if you stay."

Ven came to a halt. He turned slowly, finding the man right behind him. He asked softly, "Y-you'll pay me? And you won't arrest me?"

The man only nodded. "Come closer. We're going to play a game."

Ven was confused. "A game?"

"Yes, a game." The man took out a piece of paper. "But first, you must sign this." He handed Ven a pen.

Ven grabbed the pen and signed the paper without even reading at it, his greed taking over his rationality.

"Excellent." The man smiled as he took the paper and placed it in his inside pocket. "Now, please, take a seat." The man took out a deck of cards from another pocket.

"Do you know how to play blackjack?"

Ven snapped out of his thoughts to focus on what he was saying.

"… Anyway, I fixed the cards so that I could tell which card was which. I did it when you stepped out of the room to yell at Sora for losing $100,000 for the third time this week." Ven shuddered as he remembered the loud yelling.

Luxord stared at him in disbelief. "But I was only gone for five minutes, max. And we played three games before that. You won all those times. With a perfect 21."

Ven shrugged. "That was pure coincidence."

Luxord stared at Ven, making him uncomfortable. "So you're telling me that every single time we've played, you won because you fixed the cards that first time?"

Ven just shrugged again.

"Ventus… I never use the same deck again. At the end of each day, I burn them just in case something like what you did happened. This is the seventh deck we've played with. And every time we've played this week with all the new decks of cards, you've won every single game. I've never won against you. Care to explain?"

Ven's eyes grew wide when suddenly the door slammed open.

A man with spiky flaming red hair stormed into the room, and took the seat closest to the door.

Ven's heart skipped a beat.

_Wait… what?_

Ven turned to look at Luxord - and saw that he had paled at the sight of the man.

"A-Axel… It's good to see you."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Luxord. I've been waiting outside for about two minutes. You should know by now that I am a very impatient person." His eyes glazed over to Ven and he grinned. "I didn't know you had company."

Ven stared back, shivering from the man's gaze.

_So this is the almighty Axel Sinclair…_

Ven's heart was pounding frantically. He wasn't quite sure why.

Probably because of the fear.

Fear of the man who frightened his boss, the one who controlled his financial future.

Ven focused back onto the conversation. Somehow he knew that he would play a huge part of the current situation.

That if this was a chess match, Luxord and Axel were the players. And he was a piece on Luxord's side of the board. And that somehow, he viewed him as the queen.

"Are you ready for this wager that'll settle everything?" Axel asked.

"But of course." Luxord takes out a pair of white dice from his pocket and places them on the table.

"No, we're not using your dice." Axel reaches into his pocket and takes out a pair of red dice. "I always carry this for just this kind of occasion." He paused. "Although, this is actually the first time I've used them."

"Oh?" Luxord raised an eyebrow. "Why use such special dice for this occasion?"

Axel smiled as he looked over to Ven. "Because when I want something, I plan to get it."

Ven shuddered.

Luxord's tone was neutral as he said, "Alright then. Please come closer, Axel, for the final game. Ventus here will be your opponent." Luxord motioned his hand towards Ven.

Axel chuckled as he started fiddling with his dice.

Ven turned to face Luxord, eyes filled with shock. He whispered, "Is this the reason why you always made me play all those times? I thought that this guy never wins. Why do I need to play?"

Luxord's voice was low, so that Axel couldn't hear them conversing.

"No, and it might be overkill, but I can't afford to lose this wager." He paused.

"You were right. Every time I played against you after that day, I wanted to test you again. You know why?" Ven shook his head.

"It's because I never lost before. You are the only one whom I have never won against. And just now, I discovered something. You never lose. Never. Even when I rig the deck to my favor, you're still unbeatable." He looked into Ven's eyes, which were filled with surprise. "Yes, I rigged the deck we just played with. But I _still_lost. There's something about you that causes fortune to shine on you, and everyone around you. I realized that the second day you came in, with all the customers already playing." He paused again.

"Actually, even before that. That first day you came in, Zexion and Riku won at the slot machines. And Sora won at Texas Hold'em. You know, Sora never wins. I was actually going fire him that day until I was told that he won against everyone."

Axel sighed loudly, ending their conversation. "I know that you're talking over there. Can we start this game already? I don't have all day." He twirled the dice between his fingers as he continued, "Since I don't trust you, I'm going to choose what game we play with the dice. Or, more specifically, what your friend and I will play.

"This is a game that I came up with while I was outside for two minutes. We're gonna roll the dice twice. The totals that we get will be added together and whichever's the highest wins. Got it memorized?"

Ven nodded as he stepped forward. "Okay."

Axel grinned as he handed him the dice. "I'll let you go first."

Ven snatched the dice from his hand, not looking at his face. He threw them straight onto the table and shut his eyes.

Luxord spoke with confidence, "Doubles of three. Current total is six."

Ven opened his eyes and watched as Luxord handed Axel the dice. Axel started blowing on the dice, rubbing them together, and even murmuring to them.

Ven was a little weirded out.

_He must really want to win… What were the prizes of this bet anyway?_

Axel rolled the dice onto the table. Ven observed as one of the dice landed on a two and the other on a one.

Luxord smirked as he spoke again, "Two and a one. Current total is three."

He collected the dice and handed them to Ven. "You got this in the bag…" he breathed in his ear.

Ven actually smiled as he rolled the dice onto the table, keeping his eyes open this time as he stared at the dice.

A cold feeling suddenly taking him over, his smile faded as the dice rolled.

His vision grew blurry as his eyes became clouded.

_She was sitting on a chair made of clouds, looking into a mirror. Her blond hair was covering her face. It was long, up to her waist. She pushed it behind her ear as she focused onto the mirror._

_Inside the mirror wasn't a reflection, but an image of a man with flaming red hair. He was crying on his bed._

_She released a sigh as she put her hand on the mirror, touching the man's face image, wiping away the tears._

Ven snapped back into attention as Luxord spoke for a third time. "Snake eyes… Current and final total is eight."

Luxord gathered the dice and handed it to Axel. Axel took them, closed his eyes, and threw them on the table, just like Ven had done in the first round, with a smile on his face.

Luxord spoke once more, shock and fear quivering in his voice.

"Doubles of six... Current and final total is nine. A-Axel is the winner…"

Ven's mouth was dry as Axel's smile grew wider. Ven could swear that his eyes also seemed to be smiling as well.

Luxord said to no one in particular, "I just realized…You know what the date is? It's August thirteenth. And you know what day it is? It's Friday. Friday the thirteenth."

Ven's heart started beating frantically, but wasn't able to respond, shock overcoming all senses.

_I… I lost?_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Disclaimer info. :P

Thank you everyone for reviewing/subscribing/favoriting!

I had this chapter more than half-way done when I submitted the last chapter, and since I'm also working on other fics (which I'll also post, eventually) and stuff, updating will be probably be irregular.

Sorry! I'll try my best to not make it last more than month at max, for everything.

But, again, reviews would be helpful so that I'll know that I should update this as fast as I can and abandon my other stuff! :D

So, review!

Please?

Also, since a reviewer asked, I'm going to make it clear:

This _will _be AkuRoku.

Just please be patient and let the story work out itself. :)

Story Start!~

_Gazing at the mirror, the woman was surprised to find tears streaming from her eyes. _

_She wipes the tears, feeling an aching pain in her heart as she continues to watch the man in the mirror._

_The red head continues to cry, sobbing deeply into his pillow. _

_She aches to touch the man's face - skin to skin - to comfort him, to ask him to stop crying._

_She didn't want to see his beautiful face stained by tears. _

"_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. The things I would do for you…" she whispered to the mirror._

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Ven opened his eyes to find himself on the floor.

As he started to rise from the ground, he jumped from finding Axel's face directly in his.

Axel chuckled at this response, grinning at him.

Terrified beyond relief, Ven slowly crawled backwards towards a corner. He closed his eyes, trying to make sense of what he just saw.

There was a girl, who had long blonde hair, staring at a mirror, which showed a man with red hair, crying his eyes out.

Red hair… that looked like Axel's.

Axel gave him one last look, desire in his eyes, before collecting his red dice from the table and turning towards Luxord.

"It would appear that I have won our little bet." Axel just kept on grinning.

Luxord was visibly shaking. "I-It would appear so… And as you know, I am a man of my word. I have to follow our agreement." He hesitates. "But, may I ask, how did you win?"

Axel's smile faltered as he gave the question some thought.

After a few moments, his mouth twists into an even bigger grin than before. He throws the dice into the air and back into his hand.

"These dice are loaded."

Luxord screams, "What!"

Axel started laughing again. "I told you, when I want something, I plan to get it. You never said that I couldn't cheat, for it was never specified."

Ven had a feeling that if the situation wasn't so serious, Axel would have stuck out his tongue at Luxord for outsmarting him. For beating him at his own wager.

Then again, Luxord didn't really expect for him to lose, did he?

He was his ace up his sleeve, his queen, his trump card.

Before the game with Axel, Luxord said that Ven _never _loses, even when he rigged their last game in his favor.

He also mentioned that it was Friday the thirteenth. Ven was never one to believe in luck.

But… how could he win the games that were rigged without even knowing that they were rigged?

And today, during this match, he lost? Even when Axel cheated? Even when he _rigged_ the game to his favor, and Ven _still_ lost?

Luxord turned away as he takes out a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to Axel. "This is the deed to the property. According to our agreement, it now belongs to you. And another thing… what is the other thing you desire to acquire that I have?"

Axel waves his hand at the paper.

"Keep it. I didn't want your stupid casino anyway. Why would I? I like gambling here. The only thing I want it is that." He pointed at Ven.

Luxord was confused. "Ventus?"

Ven's head shot straight up at the sound of his name. "Yes?" he breathes.

Axel smirked, and then turned to Luxord.

"I overheard your meeting earlier. He 'belongs' to you? Well, now he belongs to me. And besides, why do you care? I'm letting you keep your precious casino in exchange for him." Axel turns his attention to Ven, who once again shivered.

But, his heartbeat quickened as well.

Ven couldn't understand why.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Luxord couldn't lose Ventus - he was something that he needed. Something that could never leave him.

A precious person that Lady Luck shined her wealth upon.

When would he be able to find someone like that again?

Especially one that the goddess favored even more than him?

He found that Axel was looking at Ventus, so he gazed over to him, finding him shivering underneath Axel's gaze.

Receiving a pleading look from Ventus, he tried to save him and asked, "My question is: Why? What would you possibly want him for? I didn't know that people were involved into the agreements. And what could he possibly be of worth to you?"

Axel turned to Luxord, anger flashing within his eyes. He spat, "Why should it matter to you? You lost. You said that I would get whatever I want in addition to the casino if I won. I won. I'm being generous today and am letting you keep your little casino. All I want is him. Ventus you called him."

Luxord shuddered when Axel returned to watch Ven, who was starting to silently cry in the corner.

Taking his sweet time, he walked over to the end of the meeting room, to a painting of playing cards and dice. He slowly popped the painting off the wall, revealing a safe behind it. Dialing in a code, the safe cracked open and he took a folder, the only folder, from within it.

Walking back to Axel, he gives a small glance at Ventus as he handed him the folder. "This is all the paperwork involving Ventus Strife with my establishment."

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Axel grabs the folder from his hands, and looks inside. There was nothing of real value, except the contract that Ven signed on the night he first arrived there, a week ago.

The contract that Ven had signed without reading.

His drastic mistake being not reading it in his haste to make money.

The contract that officially - legally - bounded him to Luxord.

It was the only item within the folder.

That - and an ace of spade card.

Axel seizes up the paper, folds the contract, and places them within an inside pocket.

He walks up to Ven, still crying in the corner.

"Ventus Strife?"

Ven takes a deep breath, wipes his tears, and looks up.

Axel sticks out his hand. "Axel Sinclair. It was a pleasure to play against you."

Ven takes out his hand, and moves towards Axel's to shake it.

Axel uses his hand to slap Ven in the face. "But now you belong to me. Get up. We're leaving."

Taking a small glance at Luxord earns him another slap on the cheek. Axel shouts, "Did I say you could look at him, you sick bastard? Get the fuck up! I said that we're leaving!" Axel exits the room.

Ven didn't want to get slapped again, so he quickly follows Axel, not sparing another look at Luxord.

And it happened to be his fifteenth birthday…

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Axel didn't know what was with that blond kid, but there was something about him that made him special.

And Luxord wasn't so keen on letting him take his opponent away.

It made him want him all the more.

What made this kid so important?

He had a beautiful face, with a rocking body to boot.

If he wasn't so interesting, he would have just put him as one of those prostitutes he had on the streets.

He would have made a lot of money.

But, recalling the conversation from earlier, he made over 80 million dollars in just a week.

So… this kid was a professional gambler.

Ventus was his name? A valuable resource.

Not that he needed money anyway.

But money was money. The more, the merrier.

Actually, he was amazed at all that he even won.

Because…

The dice they played with weren't loaded at all.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Rushing to keep up with Axel's pace, Ven avoided the looks that people were giving him.

But he couldn't avoid Sora's, because he grabbed his arm to get his attention.

Sora said in a rushed whisper, only taking one breath to speak, "Ven? What's going on? Why are you with Axel? Why is your face all red? What happened? Where are you going? Why - "

Sora was going too fast and asking too many questions. It made Ven's head spin, even more than it was earlier. It just made him more nauseous. He took hold of Sora's arm to release himself.

He quickly whispered, "Sora! You're talking too fast! Let me go! Go to Luxord if you wanna know what happened!"

Ven ran out the door to catch up with Axel.

Sora stood there, confused.

Riku walked up to him, and tapped him on the back.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Kairi interjected.

Sora gave her a glare that could kill, causing Kairi to flinch. Then, he turned to Riku.

His voice was hard. "We have to go to Luxord."

The three - with Sora leading, Riku in tow, and Kairi following at a distance from Sora - knocked on the meeting door, and not getting a response a few seconds later, just walked in.

Sora spoke first. "Luxord, Ven just walked out with Axel. What happened? What did you do? Where's Ven going? Why - "

Riku interrupted, "If you want him to answer your questions, you gotta let the man talk, Sora."

Kairi stood silently in the corner, avoiding the sight line of Sora as she watched Luxord lower his head, as in shame.

"In order to save the casino, Axel and I had one last wager. I made him play against Ventus for this match, in order to win. He lost."

All three of them said simultaneously, "_WHAT?_"

Their outburst caused the other members to come to the meeting room.

"What 'what'?" Marluxia asked.

Kairi squealed, "Ventus lost a game! Against Axel Sinclair!"

The room rang. "_WHAT?_"

While the whole room conversed among themselves, Sora, Riku, and Kairi started Luxord, wide eyed.

Luxord guessed that they were trying the process the information.

Riku asked, "But what does that have to do with Ven going with Sinclair?"

"Since Axel won, he was able to get whatever I could give him. And he wanted Ventus. I couldn't say -."

The last part of his sentence was cut short when Sora punched Luxord in the face.

Kairi gasped and the whole room fell silent as he fell at the blow, and Riku had to hold Sora back from going after him again.

"You _gave _Ven away? How could you, you fucking asshole! And it was his birthday!" Riku was having a very hard time holding back Sora.

Luxord wiped the blood that came from his mouth and answered, "Sora, if you haven't been winning all your games for the past week, I would move you to bodyguard position. You possess amazing strength. And I did not _give_ him away. I lost him in a bet."

But Luxord grinned - a wicked smile. Sora stopped struggling in Riku's arms and Riku released him.

Kairi said, "You have a plan to get Ventus back, don't you?"

Luxord's grin grew even wider as he answered her, "But of course, my dear. I couldn't just _give_ away a person, now could I? Especially one blessed by the goddess even more than I."

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

"So, where do you live?" Axel asked.

"What?" Ven answered with another question, flinching when Axel turned to face him.

"Since we've been waiting for my driver, I took some time to think. I want you to live with me. So, we're going to stop by your house, grab all your stuff, burn the house, then go to my place."

"Oh, okay. Well, I live - " Ven absorbed the words. "We're gonna _burn_ my apartment?"

Axel frowned. "Aw, you live in an apartment? That's no fun. Guess we can't burn it anymore." Axel took a glance at his watch. "Seriously, where is that guy? He's gonna get fired if he doesn't get here within a minute."

"Uh, Mr. Sinclair, sir? We've only been here for one minute." Ven flinched, anticipating the hit that he would get from Axel for speaking out of line.

Axel noticed.

"Oh, you still wrung up about that? Let's start over." Axel took out his hand.

"Axel Sinclair. It was a pleasure to play against you."

Ven wasn't so sure what was going on, so he took a small step back.

Axel, realizing that Ven wasn't going to shake him back, used his hand to scratch his head. "Sheeh. I really screwed up there, didn't I? Look, I'm sorry for slapping you back there. I have to keep up a mean demeanor, you know? I have an image to keep."

Before Ven could answer, a limo drove up next to the curve. The driver stepped out, and opened the door. They couldn't see the face of the driver, for it was covered by a hat.

"Oh look, car's here." Axel stepped inside, waving his hand for Ven to follow him.

"Come in. We're gonna start all over." Axel took out his hand again. "Axel Sinclair. It was a pleasure to play against you."

Ven took his hand, and Axel grabbed him and pulled him into the car.

"Okay, one more time. Sorry, we're on a tight schedule." Axel took out his hand once more. "Axel Sinclair. It was a pleasure to play against you."

Ven hesitated, but did stick out his hand and shook Axel's. "Ventus Strife. But please, call me Ven. The pleasure was all mine."

Axel smiled.

He knew he was going to like this kid.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Ven was sick to his stomach when they were driving to his apartment. He had a bad feeling.

The way that Axel said it, it was as if he was never going to return here again.

He _did _say that they were going to burn the apartment. Was he really joking?

After five minutes of fast driving - including not getting into traffic and not hitting any of the red lights - they arrived at Ven's small apartment building. Ven took a quick look at his watch. It was almost 5:30. Since it was summer, the sun was still up in the sky.

"You're very messy, huh?" Axel said when Ven opened the door to grab his stuff.

"Do you have a suitcase or something? Or should I send someone over to just grab everything?" Axel kicked at a pile, just to make sure that there was nothing alive within it.

"I think I can just grab the necessary stuff." Ven said as he walked up his bed and pulled out a large suitcase.

Axel shook his head. "Nonsense. If everything is important, just grab the essentials and I'll send someone to grab everything. I really want to make up my first impression..." He watched Ven look around his room as he lowered his voice and continued, "I like you, Ven. You're interesting. There's something about you that seems…familiar." His voice trailed off as he tried to recall ever seeing anyone like Ven before.

Ven didn't hear Axel's last words as he walked around the room, looking for his most prized possessions. He grabbed the medical kit and some shirts and pants. His eyes became frantic as he searched the room, looking for something.

"Looking for something?" Axel asked.

"A locket." Ven's eyes sailed across the floor.

"You mean the locket that you're wearing?" Axel pointed to his neck.

Ven's fingers trailed up his neck, feeling for the familiar necklace that he never took off.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought I left it at home earlier in a rush to get to the casino. I totally forgot that I was wearing it."

Axel walked closer to Ven as he examined the locket. He moved his fingers to touch it.

"No!" Ven smacked his hand away and jumped back. Axel gave him a look of surprise.

Ven was shocked at his response. "S-Sorry. This locket's very special to me. No one else can touch it." Ven started twirling it in his fingers, not taking his eyes off of it.

"A-Anyway, I'm done packing." Ven looked over to his suitcase, barely filled.

"Would you like for me to send people to come and get the rest?" Axel asked. He was trying to make the mood light again.

He'll figure out that locket later.

Ven shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks."

"Is there anyone currently in the building?" Axel asked.

"Right now? No, everyone's out. Actually… I'm the only one who lives here. But I didn't want any of my co-workers to move in with me, so I never told them." Ven said sadly.

Axel smiled. "Lonely? Don't worry - you'll be living with me now. And I'll only be an asshole if we're with other people. Image, can't forget that. It what makes people fear you without having to meet them. So, you're the only one who lives here. Excellent." Axel's smile grew.

Ven's sinking feeling returned at the thought of what was going to occur.

Axel walked around the room once more, looking around.

Satisfied, Axel grabbed Ven's suitcase and arm and used his other hand to take out and dial a number on his cell phone.

After waiting for a few seconds, Axel spoke into the phone. "It's me. I need to blow up a building. Or burn it, technically. Just thought you should know."

Ven's eyes grew wide.

So it wasn't a joke.

He could hear laughter on the other line and a voice, which answered, "And you're telling me this why?"

"Just thought you should know why I am going to be late to our meeting." Axel said.

"We have a meeting?" The voice was confused.

Axel and Ven were outside the building at this point.

"We do now. Right now. Be at the office before I get there. I'm late because I need to blow up a building. _That's _why I'm late. Bye, Demyx."

More laughter could be heard before he replied, "Alright, see ya, Axel."

Axel hung up the phone and let go of Ven.

Ven tried to get back his footing. "W-Wait. Are you really blowing up my apartment?" he stammered.

"Since no one lives here and you don't need any of this stuff, yeah. _We_ are blowing up your apartment. And burning it. I haven't introduced you to Demyx yet. He needs to meet people in person. We would spend five hours on the phone just trying to describe you." Axel put his free hand in his pocket.

Really, Axel was planning to burn it anyway, even if Ven wanted to come back for all his stuff.

He would buy whatever Ven desired.

Whatever makes him happy. He exists to make him happy.

It was the least he could do.

_Wait, what?_

Axel kept a poker face as he banished those thoughts from his mind.

"Ah hah!"

He pulled out a match and handed it to Ven. He put down the suitcase and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the driver appeared next to him. "You called, Mr. Sinclair?"

"That I did, Xi - Woah! Xion? Why are you the driver? Never mind that, I'll ask later. Get this, would ya? And also, get me _that_ from the trunk?"

Ven had yet another bad feeling. Although this one could just be the last two, just more intense.

"But of course, sir." She bowed, picked up the suitcase, and walked back to the trunk of the limousine.

Ven muttered to himself, "Even though I have a bad feeling about this, it's probably because we're gonna burn down a building."

He gave her one last look before turning back to Axel and said. "I just met you, and now we're acting so close."

He took the match.

Axel gave his comment thought. Looking away from Ven, he replied, "There's something about you that makes me feel so close to you. You're a familiar person. Even though I don't recall ever meeting you before in my life." He turned back to Ven.

Thinking of the visions, Ven said aloud not looking at Axel, "Would it be bad to say that I feel the same about you?"

Axel gave him a look, but before he could say anything, Xion returned.

"I have brought the gasoline that Mr. Sinclair had requested." She held up two tanks, presumably filled with gas. "I could only assume that he wishes to burn this building. We have not informed the police before hand, so it may probably be an issue. Is the property evacuated?"

Axel gave a glare to Xion, who shirked away, "I have my reasons, Xion. And besides, Ven over here," he moved his hand to Ven, who shied away from Xion, "Is the only one who lives here. No one will be hurt."

Xion nodded. "My apologies, sir. I spoke out of line." She bowed. "I'll leave you to your work and will be waiting in the car." She walked back to the car, casing a final glance at the two before entering the limo.

Ven watched her and wondered what her life story was before turning back to Axel, who just finished pouring all the gasoline on the building.

Then, he realized that there was no point to wondering what it was, since his life was already messed up as it was. He walked to him.

"I don't think this is going to work." He said when he reached him.

"Nonsense, it'll work." Axel said. "Hand me the match."

Ven handed him the match, and was alarmed when the match was automatically lit when it reached his hands.

"How did you do that!" Ven asked, terror sneaking into his voice.

"Hmm?" Axel looked at him before noticing the fire on the match. "Holy shit! How did it get lit? Run!"

Ven started to run and Axel followed him close behind, after throwing the match on the ground covered with gas.

It immediately burst into flames.

Fortunately, they had already reached the car and Xion had the engine running. Axel took out a control from his pocket, and pushed the only button on it.

Getting inside the car, Axel commanded, "Xion, get closer to the flames. I wanna see something."

Not that either of the boys in the back could see, but Xion was greatly baffled at this command.

_Is he an idiot? We'll get caught in the flames! _

However, she could not disobey and against her will she reversed closer to the burning building.

Suddenly, a huge explosion came from the building.

"What the fuck? No way that was just fire!" Ven was terrified.

Axel smiled. "I planted a few explosives in your room."

"Axel! What the hell are you doing!" Ven screamed.

"Is it too much? Fine." Axel sighed. "Xion, take us to the office."

Xion breathed a sigh of relief and murmured a silent 'thank you' to Ven as she whirled them out of there.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

"Name's Demyx. Pleasure to meet ya…?" Demyx said with his hand out.

Ven took out his own hand and shook it. "Ventus. But please, call me Ven."

"Ven it is then." He smiled, then turned over to Axel. "We need to talk."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Obviously. Why else would I call this meeting?" He gave a small look at Ven, who was looking out the window and into the street. They were on the fourteenth floor.

He smiled when he exclaimed, "Everyone looks like ants!"

"No, Axel. Just you and me."

Axel sighed and addressed Ven, "Ven, would you kindly go with Xion? Don't tell anyone what you're here for. I have to do that."

Ven nodded and left the room.

As soon as the door shut, Demyx's feet were on the table. "Okay, what's so important that I needed to come in person? And what's with that kid?"

Axel paced the floor, looking out the window as he said in a quiet voice, "I won him in a bet against Luxord."

Demyx fell off his chair. "Wait, you played _Luxord _and _won_?"

Axel shook his head. "No, I played against Ven, the one you just met."

Demyx got up and sat straight in his chair. "So, lemme get this straight. You went to Luxord's casino, the one that you were supposed to take over as payment for his debt. But he hustled you into having a rematch?"

Axel nodded.

"And in this rematch, you won?"

Axel nodded again.

Demyx burst out laughing. "Bullshit! You're shitting me!"

His laughter died when he saw that Axel's face was totally serious.

Axel sighed as he took a seat in the meeting room, the one closest to the window Ven was just looking outside of. "You didn't let me finish. Or pay attention. I did not play against Luxord. I played against Ventus, the one you just met."

Demyx's smile flipped into a frown. "His name's Ventus?"

Now Axel was confused. "Yeah… Why? He told you a few moments ago."

"I forgot… you didn't attend that meeting…" Demyx muttered to himself before speaking out loud. "Ventus is the name of the guy who snuck into one of the casinos about a week ago and almost made out with $13 million. Luckily, someone saw him, thought he was a suspicious figure and notified security. He didn't do anything wrong, it's just that he was underage. We were all amazed that he was able to win all that money…"

But Axel didn't hear the end of his answer as he digested the news.

_Is that why I felt something from him? Because he almost stole $13 million from me? _

_No, there's something about him. I don't know what it is, but there's something there._

_There's something about him that's so… familiar. _

_And he said that he felt it too._

_Now the question is - have we ever met before?_

Axel frowned that his tone was hard when he asked, "And why wasn't he arrested at the time?"

Demyx looked away as he answered, "He got away. We underestimated him and he was able to escape. But at least we were able to get the money back."

Axel waved that comment away. "I don't care about the money. Anyway, now I'm even more interested in the kid than I was before. And I didn't even think that that was possible. I want you to do a background check on the guy. Tell me _everything_ there is to know. Here," Axel took out the folder with the contract and card in it, and slid it across the table. Demyx caught it. "This might be helpful."

Demyx pocketed the contract, but examined the card. "What up with the card?"

Axel shrugged, "I don't know, it was in the folder."

"Got it. That it?" Demyx asked as he walked towards the door.

"Yeah. Call Ven into the room on your way out, would'ya?" Axel called.

"Sure thing, boss." Demyx replied as he stepped out of the room, leaving Axel alone to process his thoughts.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

"How did get Axel to listen to you?" Xion asked as soon as Ven exited the room.

Apparently, she was waiting outside. Ven thought that she wanted to eavesdrop on her boss's meeting, and that he ruined that.

He remembered her question.

Better play dumb, it works every time.

"What?"

"I mean, how did you talk back to him and that he didn't threaten or harm you?"

"He smacked me a couple of times in the face earlier…" Ven reminisced, rubbing his cheek.

Xion looked relieved.

_Does she want people to be in pain?_

Ven's thoughts must have appeared on his face, because Xion hastily said, "Oh! Don't take that the wrong way. I mean, Sinclair hurts everyone he meets. However, since he listened to you and didn't harm you, I thought that you were someone special. But you're not."

Now there's the back story that Ven was wondering about. "Even you?"

Xion laughed. "Yes. No. Why should I tell you?" She paused. "No, we're pretty close. I'm one of his childhood friends. But I have to act like a minion in front of others." She smacked herself in the face.

"I never introduced myself, did I? My name's Xion. Pleasure to meet you."

"Ventus. But please, call me Ven. The pleasure is all mine." He paused, thinking. "Why does everyone say 'pleasure'?"

Xion laughed. "It's an inside thing. Maybe Axel'll explain it to you. If not, just tell me."

Ven pouted. "Why don't you just tell me now?"

Xion smiled as she answered, "I don't want to rain on Axel's parade." She stuck out her tongue.

Ven asked another question. "And what made you want to tell me that little story?"

Xion frowned and answered, "I don't know, but there's something about you that says that I can trust you and tell you that."

Ven just smiled.

Just then, the door opened and Demyx stepped outside, his arm tucked inside his suit.

"Yo, Ven! Axel wants to see you." He walked away.

Xion smirked. "Good luck." She pat him on the back.

He smiled at her, and walked in.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Axel was looking out the window when Ven came into the room.

"Demyx said that you wanted to see me?" Ven asked.

"Yes, please close the door behind you." Axel answered, not looking at him.

Ven hesitated, but obeyed his command as Axel heard the door shut close.

Axel walked towards him, not looking at him.

Ven watched and was surprised when he walked right past him, but to the door and locked it.

"So… Tell me about yourself."

Ven started shaking. "W-What?"

"Since you officially belong to me, I thought that maybe I should know about my newest toy." He eyed Ven with a hunger in his eyes.

Ven started to panic. No one ever asked him that when he was working for Luxord. And he didn't really want to talk about it. "Uhh… That is…"

Ven's eyes started to become cloudy as he shut his eyes.

He was beginning to sway. Axel noticed and ran up towards him and caught him before he fell down to the floor.

Axel groaned, "Don't tell me that he fainted…"

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

_The woman was still at the mirror, still looking on that man._

The man that looked like Axel.

_She had, however, stopped crying._

_Taking her hand away from the mirror, the image of the man faded away as she looked upon it to see her reflection. _

_Long blonde hair… and familiar blue eyes…_

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

"Naminé?" Ven murmured as he slowly opened his eyes, yet still a little murky.

_Who the heck is Naminé? _

Eyes readjusting to the light, he noticed that he wasn't in his apartment. He was in a much bigger room, with an attached bathroom and two windows, and with one window door that could be opened to reveal a balcony. He could see a suitcase by the bathroom.

It was much nicer than his apartment.

_Don't tell me that I was kidnapped…_

Ven struggles to remember what happened the day before.

The bet, Axel Sinclair, burning of his apartment, meeting Xion and Demyx, the card that Sora drew for him for his birthday…

He reached down to his pocket, where the card was - to realize that he didn't have any.

He sprinted to the bathroom, grabbing the suitcase on the way there. He looked at the full body mirror to see that he was wearing a red shorts and a white t-shirt, clothes that he didn't remember putting on. Sure, they were comfy, but what happened to his clothes?

Wait - _t-shirt_?

Ven glances over to his arm, and sees it.

Quickly, he unzipped his suitcase, takes out the first aid kit filled with rolls of bandages, as well as a long sleeved white sweater. He could always say that he was cold. Taking hold of a roll, he unraveled it and rewrapped it around his arm, where it was. Then he pulled the sweater over his head.

It now hidden, he breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the bathroom, and back to the bed, falling right back asleep.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Axel was lying down on his bed, facing the wall that was full of screens of Ven's room.

Axel didn't call it spying - he was just getting background, current information on his newest prize.

The word 'espionage' sounded much nicer.

Nothing was really happening, he was still sleeping.

Sleeping for fifteen hours straight.

And for those fifteen hours, Axel was awake, watching him.

He was just about to doze off himself when he noticed Ven jump from the bed and to the bathroom, taking his suitcase on the way.

Would it really be an invasion of privacy if he watched him in the bathroom?

Then again, technically he now _owned_ the guy, so why should he care?

Besides, they were both guys.

He focused back on the screen.

Axel can see a birthmark - a small circle of a spade, heart, diamond, and clover. Ven quickly grabbed a white bandage and covered the mark. Pushing a sweater down his neck, he raised his fingers to the mark. His fingers now touching over a white bandage, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Axel became dizzy and shut his eyes.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

_A man slammed a door shut and locked it, leaving him alone in his room._

_No one could be trusted._

_All they wanted to do was have him play. Only play._

_And for what? Money?_

_That wasn't fun at all._

_Games are supposed to be fun, weren't they?_

_He looked at his arm and saw the mark that condemned him to his fate, a small circle of a spades. He clawed at it until it started to bleed. _

_But it was still there._

_The man felt no pain, but tears running down his eyes as he ran to his bed, grabbing his pillow so that he can cry into it._

"_Why did I have to be giving this accursed luck?" he sobbed._

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

_What was that?_

Axel blinked back into focus to see the kid jump back in bed, supposedly falling back asleep.

Axel went back to the footage, taking steps to find a good image of the mark. After finding one, he took a picture of it.

Now… Demyx needed to come back to tell him all he found out about this 'Ventus Strife'.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Disclaimer for characters.

Ooh! And a song that I used, but I don't want to ruin the surprise.

I don't disclaim the plot though.

So…

This chapter has lemon in it…

Yeah, it was kinda hard to write…

Anyway, I'm working on a lot of other multi-chaptered stories, and I hope to publish them soon!

Ooh! And on a random note, I watched Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time in theaters today!

It was entertaining.

Review and tell me what you think!

Especially how I did with the lemon.

So, on with the story!~

"So, tell me what 'cha got." Axel took a sip of his coffee as he turned to face Demyx, who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Where is he?" Demyx asked.

"Still sleeping."

"For over twenty hours?"

"Must be exhaustion and shock." Axel mused. He put his cup on the table.

"Now, stop stalling and show me what you found."

There was a pause as Demyx looked away when he answered, "Nothing."

"Slide over what you - Nothing?"

"Nothing." Demyx tensed.

Silence filled the space between the two.

Axel started laughing, causing Demyx to jump. "So… Is this guy like an illegal immigrant or something?"

"N-no. If he was, then I would still have something. It's like, I can't find him. Anywhere. At all. Like he doesn't even exist."

Pause. "How is that possible? He has no documents?"

"Nothing. If there were any, I would have had them on me."

Axel glared at him. "Or… you were just too lazy and the person you gave the assignment to couldn't find anything."

Demyx laughed nervously. "That's what I did at first, but when Xion told me that she couldn't find anything, I looked myself. And she was right. There wasn't anything to be found."

"No parents? Birth certificate? Passport? Stuff of that nature?" Axel asked.

"Nada. You just have to ask him yourself about his life story."

Axel remembered the last time he did that, he fainted.

"Alright, so you failed."

Demyx looked away. "Forgive me."

"You're lucky I'm a forgiving mood, given my newest toy." Axel took out a picture of his inside pocket.

"See if you can find anything on this." He slid it across the table.

"This?" Demyx took the picture between his fingers and held it up like a card.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I already know about this. These are the suits on the deck of cards."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Naw, really? I mean do they mean anything of significance?"

"Not really… maybe it's just a tattoo or something."

Demyx studies the picture.

"But…" he said softly.

"But what? Tell me everything."

Another pause. "There's a theory that they are the symbols of Lady Luck." He took another close look at the picture.

"How do you know?" Axel asked.

Demyx takes out another picture from his pocket. "Here, look at this." He slides the picture.

Axel takes it. "Luxord?"

"Look at his hands, without gloves."

Luxord always wore gloves…

That was the reason that he was in debt to them in the first place.

But without them, Axel can see a circle of clubs on both of his hands.

"What are those?"

"You know, Luxord has never lost a game. Ever." Demyx pauses. "How was he in debt to you anyway?"

Axel shrugged. "When we were playing, he always refused to take off his gloves. When I called him on cheating by the gloves last game, he still wouldn't take them off. So I told him that if he won the next hand we had while wearing gloves, he would give me his casino. You know what happened after that."

"Anyway… I was surprised that he made Ven play against you, since he never loses. Supposedly, this is how."

"Those clubs on his hands?"

_Why does it seem familiar…?_

Demyx nods. "There's a theory going around that the reason why he never lost is because he was blessed by Lady Luck, Fortuna, Tyche, Felicitas - whatever you call her. And that he was born with those marks. "

Axel examined the picture some more. "Who came up with the theory?"

Demyx started to sweat. "Some guy named Xemnas in Las Vegas."

He breathed out a sigh of relief as Axel laughed.

"Ridiculous."

Demyx smiled, wiping his forehead while answering, "It's stupid, right? It's better to say that he's just really lucky, or just plays his cards right."

Axel turned his gaze back towards the windows.

"I saw you sweating there. Are you hiding something?"

Demyx started to shake, not that Axel could see it. But he could hear it. And it made him smile.

"N-no! It's just that I got the information from a shady character."

Axel pondered on Demyx's choice of words. Shady?

"Who?"

Demyx scratched his head. "An old colleague of mine, when I was still working in government."

"You didn't answer my question." Axel turned back to face Demyx, who started to tremble underneath his glare.

He stuttered out, "H-his name was V-Vexen Even. A d-doctor." Demyx regained his posture.

"Though, he quit his position about ten years ago or so. Told me about it before he disappeared."

Axel looked at him in disbelief. "You remembered something that happened that long ago? You?"

Demyx shrugged, "It was the last time I saw him before he disappeared. I freaked out, 'cause I thought it was because of me he was gone. I wasn't very… accepting of his friend's idea."

Axel laughed again. "Who would? It's a ridiculous idea."

Demyx laughed weakly, rubbing his wrist. "Y-yeah… ridiculous indeed."

Just then, a knock on the door could be heard.

"Enter." Axel called.

A timid Xion opened the door and entered the room. "Sorry to excuse your meeting, Mr. Sinclair, but Ventus has awoken."

Axel's face was filled with surprise. "Why wasn't I informed earlier?"

Xion flinched before she answered, "He just woke up moments ago. I saw him slowly open his eyes yawn, and stretch."

Axel didn't even give his workers another look as he hurried to the door. "Demyx, I want you to punish Xion."

Fear is exposed on Xion's face as she quivers, "W-what h-have I-I done?"

Axel spun around and slapped her on the cheek. "I know what you did yesterday. You intimidated Ven and lied to him."

Tears started to form on Xion's face as she placed her hand to where she was slapped.

Axel continued, "We were never friends. You work for me. You're only lucky that I took a liking to you to save you from your fate. I never want you to lie to him again. He has more value to me than you ever will. Remember that."

Xion bowed her head in shame. "Y-yes, Mr. Sinclair."

"Demyx, however, was one of my friends." He looks at Demyx, who blinked. "You know what to do."

Axel left the room without looking back.

Demyx walked up to Xion, stopping at a safe distance with a handkerchief in his hand. He handed it to her.

"Xion…"

She took the handkerchief from his hand, not looking at him.

She didn't use it as she let it fall to the floor.

"I'm fine." She bent over.

"Go on, punish me."

Demyx made no move closer to her, placing his gaze anywhere but on her. "Xion… I know."

She turned around, tears still around her eyes. "W-what?"

"I know. And it's okay."

Xion started to cry even harder as she ran to Demyx, hugging him for comfort.

"I… I…" The sobbing no longer contained audible words.

Demyx hugged her back, whispering, "I just don't understand how you are still in love with him after everything he has done for you…"

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

_Along the beach, with the sun starting to set, five year old Ventus approaches his twin brother._

"_Hey, Roxas…"_

_Roxas looks up from his sand castle and smiles at his older brother._

"_Hi, Ven!"_

_Ven smiles back, but quickly changes his expression of seriousness. _

"_Roxas… how do you do it?"_

_Roxas faces back towards the sand. "Hmm? Do what?"_

"_How do you win all those games? Make Dad all that money?"_

_Roxas started fiddling with the sand. "I… don't know."_

_Ven runs up to Roxas, and grabs him from the collar. _

"_Tell me how!"_

_Roxas started to cry. _

"_It's because of you that our family is so screwy!"_

"_Ventus!" _

_Tifa ran up to the two, and pushed Ventus into the sand. She hugged Roxas, giving no regard to her other son._

"_Roxas, are you okay? Did he hurt you? Ventus, you are in so much trouble. Just wait till I tell your father."_

_Roxas was still crying, but tried to get out of his mother's embrace as he looked at Ven._

_Ven got up from the sand and shot a glare at the two._

"_He's the favorite! The youngest one always is!"_

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Ven blinked his eyes open.

_What was that last dream?_

As hard as he tried, he couldn't recall it.

Yawning, Ven got up from bed and stretched.

_Wait a minute…_

Ven slowly made his way to the balcony, reaching out.

But before he could go outside, there was a knock on the door and Axel just barged in.

Ven froze, dropping his hand from the knob.

"Mr. Sinclair?"

Axel looked around the room, avoiding Ven.

Slowly, he made his approach, taking his time to slowly come up to Ven.

When he was next to him, Ven felt a chill come up his spine.

Suddenly, Axel took out his fist, and punched Ven in the face.

Ven fell down onto the floor, gasping in pain.

Clutching his head to his chest, he was unaware that he had a smile on his face.

Axel stared at him on the floor, a grin creeping on his face.

"I saw that. Why are you smiling? Do you enjoy being hit?"

Ven immediately ceased his smile, turning it into a frown.

Sticking out his head, he asked, "I was smiling?"

Axel's grin grew bigger, and he kicked Ven in his open stomach.

"I'm glad that you're a masochist. It makes this much more enjoyable for me."

He continued to kick him on the floor, bringing Ven closer to the bed with every kick.

He moaned from the pain, which caused Axel to temporarily pause, before quickly kicking him again.

After reaching the bed, Axel finally stopped, giving Ven time to clear out his lungs.

But before he could, Axel roughly picked him up and threw him against the wall. He coughed out blood, hitting the floor.

"Huh, you're pretty light. Like a girl." Axel said.

Those last words reminded Ven of those visions he kept on getting.

Axel was in it, supposedly. But then where was he?

_A girl… Naminé?_

_Who was she anyway?_

Grinning, he went over to Ven's bruised body, and started kicking him towards the bed once more, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Reaching the bed again, Ven was afraid that he'll be thrown against a wall again.

He was genuinely surprised when Axel picked him up and threw him onto the bed instead.

Coughing violently from the blows and from being handled, Ven choked out, "W-why are you doing this?"

Axel's smile was replaced with a frown, but quickly became a grin once again.

"I just don't want you fainting on me again." Axel took a seat on the bed and looked towards a wall.

_Don't be sorry, I deserve every cruel thing done to me from you. What you just did doesn't even compare to what I've done to you…_

Ven was confused with his thoughts.

_What have I done to deserve this?_

_What did I do to you?_

He tries to take a glance at Axel without moving his head, but couldn't. He hissed in pain, trying not to draw attention to himself as Axel took out a phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and placed it to his ear.

"Send it up." He hung up the phone. He turned back towards the boy on the bed.

"I bet you're hungry. You've been asleep for about twenty hours."

_Twenty hours?_

After a few silent, awkward seconds, there was a knock on the door.

Axel pushed him off the bed, calling, "Enter."

Ven hit the floor with a _thud_, and he moaned again.

The person at the door opened, quickly placed a tray on the table, and left.

Face on the floor, Ven didn't see who entered the room. Nor did he see the person leave because Axel quickly stomped his foot on his head so that he couldn't move.

Removing his foot, Axel got up from the bed and walked towards a table, not giving a glance back at his victim.

Ven could hear him tap his foot gently on the floor, impatient.

"Get up. Come here now."

Ven tried to get up from the floor, his arms shaking.

He quickly collapsed back down, and he moaned from the pain.

_He didn't even hit me that much. Why can't I move? Didn't I get hit way more than this every day?_

Flash visions appeared before his eyes. However, he couldn't understand any of them because they were going too fast for him. They were blurs of colors, occasionally brown, but mostly yellow, red, and orange.

It reminded him of sunsets.

Starting to get nauseous, Ven tried to blink the visions away.

He gasped for fresh air, "I… can't move."

Axel sighed.

All of a sudden, he laughed.

"I thought you were a masochist. I didn't even hit you that much. Just imagine what else I'm going to do to you…" He began licking his lips eagerly.

Ven would have shivered, but he was in too much pain to do so.

Axle got up from his chair, gently picked Ven up from the floor, and carried him to the table. Pulling out a chair with his foot, he placed him on the chair, very softy.

Then, he grabbed Ven's hands, causing him to wince in pain. He crossed them behind the chair.

Taking out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, he cuffed his hands.

Taking out two more pairs, he cuffed his ankles to the legs of the chair.

Realizing he was cuffed to a chair, Ven tried to get out without it topping over.

Satisfied, Axel walked over to his seat, the side of the table where the food was.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ven asked when he was properly seated against his will.

"I told you, I thought that you would be hungry." Axel pulled up the tray to reveal a banana, yogurt parfait, and some bread.

Axel took the bread from the table. "Ooh! Brioche!" He started to munch on it.

Ven just stayed in place, but he never took his eyes off the food.

The last time he ate was at least over twenty four hours ago. He didn't eat at all yesterday.

Axel stopped. "Aren't you hungry?" he eyed Ven with a hunger in his eyes.

He didn't know just how hungry he was until he saw the food.

What he would do for some sea-salt ice cream right now…

Sora was supposed to treat them.

Tears started to drop from his eyes down to his shorts.

Putting down his brioche, he grabbed the banana. Axel stood up and walked over to Ven. "I want to see something. Open your mouth."

Ven didn't hesitate to respond.

He started to unpeel it.

"Do not bite the banana. Or you'll regret it."

Then, he stuck it in his mouth, thrusting it deeper and deeper down his throat.

Ven was so hungry he wanted to eat it, but he was too scared to do so.

The banana was now all within his mouth.

Not hearing Ven choke, Axel said, "I guess you don't have a gagging reflex. That's good." He grinned.

"Now, I want you to suck it. And make noises."

Ven decided to make little nibbles at the banana, eating pieces of it while moaning from the thought of having something in his stomach.

He immediately stopped when he started to hear Axel moan too.

Bending down to his ear, he whispered, "You can eat that banana."

Then he uncuffed Ven's ankles from the chair.

But he quickly cuffed them together.

Lifting him up from the chair so now his hands and legs were bound to each other, he dropped him down onto the floor, causing Ven to split out the little banana he had left.

"Kneel down on the floor."

Ven kneeled, his head towards the floor.

"Good. Now, did you ever have sea-salt ice cream?"

He looked up at the question, and saw that Axel was grinning.

"Well, did you?"

He nodded.

Axel's grin grew. "Good. So you know what cum tastes like."

Ven grew wide-eyed when Axel pulled down his pants, exposing his semi-raised length.

He was amazed at its size.

"And this is just from the sounds you have been making with the banana. Just imagine what pleasure I'll have."

His mouth dropped open.

Seeing his opening, he thrust his dick into his mouth and commanded, "Like the banana."

Ven tried to make his tongue avoid the member in his mouth, but it was just too big.

He grazed his tongue over it.

Axel shivered with pleasure.

Then, he realized that he _liked_ the way Axel tasted.

It was a bitter, hot spice.

He licked it some more, causing Axel moaned in response.

Ven was surprised when his own length started to rise as well.

_Wait, what the hell am I doing?_

He wanted to split out the thing in his mouth, but Axel started swaying his hips back and forth, getting faster and faster.

Sucking on it, Axel started to moan.

This taste was so good, that Ven just sucked as hard as he could, while Axel kept rocking.

He wanted to touch himself so badly, his desire was starting to physically hurt.

He crossed his legs to hide it, causing him to move slightly downwards, pushing it further down his throat.

Axel came within his mouth.

Ven just swallowed it down.

It was as sweet as sea-salt ice cream.

Axel was glad that Ven wasn't choking, most of the time that's how the prostitutes he hired would die when he got a blow job.

And they weren't as good as this kid he had right in front of him.

Oh god, he felt so good.

He didn't know what happened, but when the kid first moaned when he was kicking him, he was so turned on by the noise.

Good thing they brought a banana.

After he came, he removed himself from his mouth and went back to get his pants.

Putting them back on, he looked back to see Ven's own length raised.

Ven licked his lips and started to twitch.

"Oh?" He walked back to him. Bending down face to face, he placed his hands on Ven's waist, which cause him to shiver.

He whispered, "Does someone need to be satisfied?"

Ven nodded weakly. "P-please…"

Axel smirked. "Oh, I don't think so." He stood back up.

"You exist to pleasure me, not the other way around. I don't have to do anything to you."

Ven started to moan again.

Axel was beginning to get hard from the sound.

"But I'll watch you do it. See how nice I am?" Axel uncuffed his legs. Going to unlock his hands, he couldn't help but look at his ass. It was quite nice. A nice, tight, firm ass.

He wondered if anyone has ever violated him down there.

He couldn't wait to do it.

Ven turned around to face him.

Rubbing his wrists, he looked at Axel with a pleading look in his eyes, twitching slightly.

Axel looked towards the table.

"Well?"

He grabbed the seat from the table, brought it towards him and took a seat.

"Go on. Do it yourself. Let's see if you are good at hand jobs as well as blow jobs." He started to laugh.

Shaking, Ven stood up and pulled down his already short shorts, exposing his hard length.

Axel was surprised at the size.

Putting his fingers to it, he trembled and started to moan again.

And he hasn't even done anything yet.

Slowly, he moved his fingers back and forth on it, moaning some more from the self-induced pleasure.

Axel couldn't take it anymore.

He jumped out of the seat and tackled Ven to the floor.

Axel grabbed his sweater, and ripped it.

_I want to possess him._

Placing his hands on Ven's now bear chest, he rubbed his nipples, causing them to become hard and perky.

Ven just kept on moaning in pleasure, trying to move his fingers to his ignored member.

In the struggle, the whole sweater just fell apart.

But Axel stopped when he saw the wrapped bandage on his arm.

Remembering what happened when Ven first woke up, he grabbed his arm and pulled it closer to him.

Ven immediately stopped.

"What's this?"

"That…?" Then he could see his exposed arm.

"T-that's nothing. Please, Axel, please…" Ven pleaded.

Axel's curiosity overcame his desire.

"Is it a wound?"

Ven shook his head, but began to shake in terror.

Or was it from desire?

"I know what this is." Axel unwrapped the bandage, revealing the small circle of a spade, heart, diamond, and clover.

"I-it's n-nothing." Ven avoided his gaze.

_Oh, it must be something._

"What is it?"

"I… I…" Ven started to blink rapidly.

Blurs of various colors flashed in his eyes. He started to feel nauseous again.

Since there was nothing in his stomach, if he puked, he would cough up bile.

He closed his eyes.

Ven collapsed into Axel's arms.

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

_Three year old Ven hesitantly approached his younger brother. _

"_Hey, hey, Roxas?"_

_Roxas looked up from his coloring book. He smiled._

"_Yeah, Ven-Ven?"_

_Ven shuddered. "Ugh, I told you not to call me that."_

"_Sorry! I just can't help it when you say, 'hey, hey'." Roxas stuck out his tongue._

_Ven stomped his foot. "I can't help it! That song is so catchy!"_

_Roxas giggled. "Marukaite Chikyuu?"_

_Ven looked away, but nodded._

"Nee nee papa wain wo choudai! Nee nee mama, nee nee mama! Mukashi ni tabeta boroneeze no.  
Ano aji ga wasurerarenainda!"_ Roxas sang._

_Realizing what he just did, Roxas pouted at Ven. _

"_Aww, you got it stuck in my head!"_

_Both of them started to laugh.__  
_

"_So, what's up?"_

_Ven's face lost all of its laughter. _

"_How come people can always tell us apart?"_

_Roxas opened his mouth, but didn't say anything._

"_Hmm… I don't know. When people look at our arms, they can tell. But don't you have it?"_

_Roxas lifted his right sleeve to reveal that unique birthmark. _

"_Woah…" Ven lifted his fingers to it, then his own right arm. He frowned._

"_How come I don't have one?"_

_Roxas frowned. "I don't know…"_

"_I'm wanna get one!"_

_Roxas beamed at his older brother. "You should! Then we could impersonate each other!"_

_Both of them looked at each other before exclaiming, "It would be like a game!"_

~- This is a page break, since I don't know how to do them -~

Axel was beginning to get worried.

"Hey?" He began to shake him, roughly.

" Ventus? I'm sure it's not good if you keep on fainting on me…"

He was out for about ten minutes already.

And it didn't look like he was going to wake up any time soon.

He stopped breathing a minute ago.

_Maybe I was too hard on him…_

Axel stopped shaking him.

_There's something about him that makes me love him and hate him at the same time._

_Wait… _

_Did I just say 'love'?_

Axel shook his head to clear his thoughts.

No time to think about that now.

Now, he better get a doctor to see him.

He can just say he fell down the stairs.

Yeah.

Quickly, Axel took out his cell phone and dialed Demyx's number.

"Hey, Demyx? Can you call a doctor and send him up there?"

"Of course, Axel."

"Right now. Something's wrong with Ventus."

"Okay, I'll get one over right away."

"Thanks. I'm sorry for what happened earlier."

"No problem. Bye."

"Bye." Axel hung up the phone.

He took a look at Ven, and smiled that he was still exposed.

And that his member was still raised.

Axel fingered at it, and was amused when he twitched.

_I wonder…_

He placed it within his mouth, and started to suck on it.

Ven let out a soft moan, but didn't awaken from his slumber.

Axel loved the way he tasted. So sweet.

Like a sweet syrup.

Axel was beginning to become hard again.

_Shit, the doctor might come…_

He stopped sucking on it, picked him up, and placed him back on the chair.

Going to the closet, he picked out a blue t-shirt and some jeans. He took a glance back at Ven, who still hasn't stirred.

He decided to change Ven's clothing. Don't want to embarrass him.

Putting back on the red boxers, he pulled up the jeans to his hips.

Hmm… those were some tight jeans…

Then, he pulled the shirt over his head, covering his bare chest.

Personally, he preferred him shirtless.

And pantsless.

Or just without clothes altogether.

Satisfied with his work of clothes, he took out a chain of a silver chakaram some splashes of red from his back pocket.

_Hmm… _Axel was looking at his neck.

_There's the locket._

With steady hands, Axel unclasped the locket from Ven's neck and replaced it with the chain.

Then he pocketed the locket.

Lifting him from the chair, he gently placed him on the bed.

And now he has to play the worst game of all.

The waiting game.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Disclaimers…

Sorry about the late-less, I have writer's block for this fic.

I'm thinking of publishing the others - the Kingdom Hearts ones that I work on when not this one.

What do you think?

I'm just all over the place with this chapter. I keep on changing the perspective.

Just a heads up.

Also, finally figured out the page breaks!

Thanks, Brigid! ^.^

Story Start~

_The time slowly turns against us._

_Do you hate me?_

_I won't blame you if you do._

_I… _

_I just wanted to make you happy._

* * *

Demyx scrambled for a phone. He muttered, "How is it that I can't get a doctor?"

Just then, a phone rang.

It turned out to be right in front of him.

After smacking himself in the face, Demyx grabbed it from the table.

"Hello?"

"I was told that this number was requesting a doctor?" The voice was very slick, yet had a monotone voice.

Demyx breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Yes! Please, thank you, send a doctor here right away!"

"Where would be your location?"

"We're at Casino No. VIII… Um… One of the… uh, guests… has collapsed."

The doctor sighed. "You don't have a doctor on hand?"

Demyx growled. Of course, he already called the regular doctor of this staff! Of all the days to be undercover… and he couldn't just leave them. It would be too suspicious if he came here. "Look, we just need a doctor here now. Can you just get over here?"

The doctor sighed again. "I'm already on my way." Both hung up the phone without a proper exiting.

* * *

"Look, this plan is fool proof! Now let's go!" Sora walked towards the door.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "You can't be serious. You look ridiculous!"

Sora stopped, turned around, and glared at her. "Well, I didn't ask you to come. You just keep on stalking me, don't you, Kairi?"

Kairi placed her hands to her hips and pursed her lips. "Hey, I care about what happens to Ven too. We all do."

Sora laughed at this statement. "No, none of you do. None of you have done anything to help."

Kairi glared. "Well, excuse me, Princess, if we want to come with an _actual_ fool proof plan."

Sora stormed back up to her, a fist forming in his hand. But before he could get close enough, Riku grabbed him by the arms.

"Look, I know that there's a spat between you two." Riku started.

"No there isn't!" Sora and Kairi said to him at the same time.

Riku sighed. "What happened?"

Sora stared at him. He got out of his grip, pat down on his coat, and began to make his way back to the door.

"Look, right now it isn't important. What is important right now is getting Ven back."

Not moving, Riku asked, "Don't you think you're being a bit rash?"

"Yeah, it's only been a day. What could have happened?" Kairi added, also not moving.

Sora halted in his tracks. "You guys don't get it, do you?"

They shook our heads.

"This is Axel Sinclair. We don't know what he'll do. That's why I need to get him back."

His hand was on the door.

"So, you coming or not?" He pushed the door open and walked outside, not looking back to see whether or not they were going to follow him.

* * *

He sighed as he hung up the phone.

"Wow, first day back and I already have to go back to my doctor work?" He laughed.

"This is ironic. After ten years, I've gone back to saving lives after ending them for so long. Well, better not leave them waiting."

He stood up from his chair and grabbed his suitcase from the desk. And with only his briefcase, he left his office. Finding his car, he got inside and started the engine.

Casinos in Atlantic City paled in comparison to the ones in Las Vegas.

"Now, where is this casino?"

* * *

Sora drove up to Casino No. VIII, and parked his car at the side of the street. Finding a side door, he tried to pull it open, and was dismayed to discover that it was locked.

_Hmm, maybe this one is normal._

Sora brushed himself off and calmly walked to the front of the building, which turned out to be the entrance.

After taking one step inside, he wasn't even blinded by the flashing lights before someone grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him to a hallway.

"Thank God you're here, Doctor!"

"Wait, what?" Sora remembered his disguise. He broke out of the person's grasp, which caused the two to stop. "W-wait, I'm not a doctor."

"You're not?" The person frowned.

"N-no! I'm here to get back Ven!"

"Who are you? You know that impersonating a doctor will lead you straight to jail, right?"

Sora chuckled. "Hehe, jail."

The man raised his eyebrow. "What's your name?"

Sora stuck out his tongue. "Shouldn't I ask you that?"

The man yelled, "Hey! Don't confuse me with your mind games."

Sora was confused. "I… didn't even say anything that complicated."

"Don't lie to me! You're a vampire, aren't you?" The man pointed to Sora accusingly.

Sora jumped back. This guy was crazy!

"What? No! My name's Sora, and I'm here to get back my friend!"

The man put back his hand and smirked.

"Thanks for telling me your name, _Sora_."

The man snapped his fingers and the hallway's lights exploded.

"What the fuck?" Sora screamed, shielding his eyes from the glass that fell from the ceiling lights.

Before he could react, the man came up and punched him in the stomach. He recoiled, but quickly recovered, forming fists with his palms.

Not hearing the impact of the body hitting the floor, the man was surprised.

"Oh? Usually that knocks out everyone that comes along."

Sora just smiled, not that the guy could see it.

"Yeah, well, I'm not everyone. Anyway, I think it's only fitting that I know your name."

After another snap of fingers, the floor was illuminated.

"Name's Demyx. Nice to meet you."

Sora just stared at Demyx, not looking at the floor. He needs to keep his focus, for he tends to get distracted very easily.

"Where's Ven?"

Demyx smirked. "I'm not telling you."

"Fine." Sora smiled. "I'll beat the ever living crap out of you, and then you'll tell me."

Demyx cracked his knuckles. "You mean _I'll _beat the ever living crap out of _you_."

Sora put up his fists. "You can try."

Another snap of fingers, and some backup came.

"Why did you snap your fingers? You just sent me some backup." Demyx asked, confused.

Sora shrugged. "I just wanted to see what happened…" He shook his head. "No matter, I'll defeat you all anyway." He flexed his hands. "Bring it on!"

* * *

The doctor stepped out of the car, taking his briefcase and began walking briskly towards the building. Going inside, the doctor was not impressed by the flashing lights of the casino. He looked around, and walked to the main receptionist desk.

"I was summoned to take care of a patient that collapsed."

The girl didn't even look up from his computer as she said, "I thought Demyx already brought you there." She sighs, but still doesn't look up.

The doctor didn't respond as he strolled over to the elevator, where a man with silver hair was.

"I was summoned to take care of a patient that collapsed."

He looked confused. "O… kay. I'm sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about. I'm, uh, just a guest here."

The doctor scowled before turning to the receptionist at the desk.

He sighed. "Would you kindly get off your computer and tell me what to do?"

The girl finally looked up. "Jesus." She picked up the phone.

"Hey, the doc - Oh. Well, what should I do?" There was some discussion on the phone before the girl finally hung up.

_This _is why he hated his profession. People didn't even care anyway. If this was serious, the patient would be dead already.

"Here." The girl handed the doctor a card key. "Go to the elevator, and there should be a card slot. Slide this in it and you will be brought to a floor with one room. It should be unlocked and the patient should be inside."

"Now, was that so difficult?" The man scorned as he snatched the card from her hand.

Still taking his time, he walked slowly to the elevator and pushed the button.

The elevator doors opened, and he was about to step inside, but was stopped by the guest from earlier.

"H-hey, would the patient happen to be a kid with blond hair and blue eyes? Or possibly with brown hair and blue eyes?"

The doctor shrugged. "I don't know. I was just called here. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a life to save." He couldn't hide the smirk that escaped from his face.

"Oh, of course. Thank you for your time." The man said, looking disappointed.

The doctor didn't respond as he walked into the elevator, and waited for the doors to close again.

After an awkward ten seconds, the doors closed.

He spotted the card swipe, and immediately swiped it.

The elevator shot up, and soon stopped afterwards.

After the doors opened once again, he stepped out of the elevator, and walked down the long hallway to the only door that appeared to be on the floor. _There must be something special about this patient. Why would they treat a normal person like this? Not that I care, really… I just need to find the target._

Reaching the door, he knocked on it.

After receiving no response, he turned the doorknob, which turned out to be unlocked.

_What great security._

Walking inside, he wasn't surprised to find it to be a huge room. It_ was_ the only room on the floor.

The room was clean, but it would appear there was some haste in cleaning the room, for it was a bit messy as well. There was some food on the floor, a banana it would seem.

He looked around, not spotting anything worth noting.

_Why bother having casinos in Atlantic City when there's Las Vegas? _

However, all sarcastic thoughts were put aside when he found the patient, lying on the bed.

He was wrapped underneath lots of heavy blankets, revealing only messy blond hair. The doctor walked up to the patient, and began to unwrap him from the entrails of the bed. Unwrapping the face first, the doctor wasn't surprised to find the patient in a sweat. He decided to drag him out of the bed covers. He grabbed his arms, and started to pull him out.

However, he stopped as soon as he saw his right arm.

_Could it be?_

Very gently, he took a hold of the patient's right arm and raised it to his face.

There it was - the familiar little birthmark that started this whole façade.

Doctor Vexen smirked.

"After ten years, it seems that I have found you at last."

* * *

Riku was so confused.

Sora was just so fast. He couldn't keep up with him.

After he left, he and Kairi soon followed, but lost sight of him. They decided to split up, that way they can cover more ground.

It was a pretty nice casino, though.

He decided to stay in the lobby, waiting for Sora - or less likely, even Ven - to appear.

Loitering, he was interested in the doctor who came up to the receptionist desk.

_Something must have happened. _

_Sora?_

He kept his gaze on him as he began to talk to the receptionist. He couldn't see who the receptionist was though.

He was surprised when the doctor began to make his way to him.

"I was summoned to take care of a patient that collapsed."

_Someone has collapsed? Who could it have been? Was it Sora? Was it Kairi? Was it the others? Was it Ven? _So many questions swirled in Riku's head; he didn't know how to respond.

He realized that the doctor was excepting an answer. He managed to get out, "O… kay. I'm sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about. I'm, uh, just a guest here."

The doctor glared at him before turning back to the receptionist. Now Riku had a better shot of her.

_That girl…_

He wasn't expecting the doctor to suddenly make his way towards him again. He ignored Riku as he pushed the elevator button.

_Wait! I need to ask now!_

When the elevator doors opened, Riku grabbed the doctor's arm before he could step inside.

So many questions to ask, but this was the most important. "H-hey, would the patient happen to be a kid with blond hair and blue eyes? Or possibly with brown hair and blue eyes?"

The doctor shrugged. "I don't know. I was just called here. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a life to save." Then he grinned at him. Perhaps 'grimaced' world be a better word to describe his expression.

_Is he not telling the truth? But why would he be lying to me? He's a third-party. What would he possibly gain from it?_

Riku dropped his grip on the doctor's arm. "Oh, of course. Thank you for your time."

There was no response from the doctor as he stepped inside and waited for the elevator to take him to his destination.

Before Riku could think of another question to ask, the elevator doors closed and the doctor was gone.

Just then, another set of elevator doors opened, and Axel Sinclair stepped out.

_Oh shit._

Riku tried to hide, but he couldn't because Axel turned and they both had eye contact with one another.

_Maybe he doesn't remember me. Maybe I can get out of this._ Riku decided to turn and just walk away.

But he didn't take more than two steps before he was immediately stopped when there was a jerk on his shoulder. "Do I know you?"

Riku looked back and tried to suppress his trembling with not much luck.

"N-no…" He turned back to face him. That wasn't really a good idea as he was again in eye contact with one of the most feared men in the entire world.

"Oh, I think I do. Come with me." With a snap of his fingers, the receptionist girl was right beside him.

_Xion…?_

"Bind him."

There was a slight hesitation as Xion took out some rope from her pocket and restrained Riku.

Axel dragged him out of the building and threw him into the back of a limo.

The only thing that Riku was thinking was the only word, '_shit_'_._

* * *

"You're quite good at this. It's been a while since I actually had a challenge." Demyx eyed his opponent.

Sora smiled at the complement. "Thanks!" He kicked at one of the bodies on the floor, and his smile grew from getting no response from it.

He looked up. "So, what now?"

Demyx placed his hand to his chin, thinking for an idea. After a few seconds, he got one. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired. And hungry! Let's go eat food."

"I would enjoy that. And I am pretty hungry."

The two stepped over all the bodies of the dead back up and re-entered the casino.

"You know, Sora, I don't even remember why we were fighting. You're a pretty good guy."

Sora blinked from all the flashing lights. After re-focusing, he said, "Thanks! But you won't call me that after this."

Demyx was confused. "After what?"

"After _this_." Sora punched him in the stomach with all his might. Demyx fell back to the floor and covered his stomach, coughing out a little blood.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'll get my own food." Sora picked Demyx up and threw him back into the hallway, and he blocked his entrance with a slot machine.

He walked up to the receptionist desk, and said, "Hello, I'm here to see the patient."

"What took you so long?" Kairi took a glance at Sora through the bangs of her black wig, then looked back down at the computer screen.

"Kairi?" Sora narrowed his eyes at the pseudo-receptionist.

"In the flesh."

"Where's Riku?" Sora looked around.

"He was an idiot and stood near the elevator. Sinclair got 'im."

"Kai, you're so mean."

Kairi rose from her seat. "_You're _so mean! Always yelling at me in front of others. I mean, what the hell, man?"

"I'm sorry." Sora bowed his head in shame.

Kairi sighed, took back her seat, then pat his head. "It's okay, I know the whole story."

Sora did a double take. "Wait, _what_?"

Kairi shook her head and looked up from the computer. "Now's not the time. Actually, we're out of it."

* * *

Vexen was astounded. Finally, after all these years, he has finally found him.

The first thing he did was take out his cell phone to call his Superior. He picked it up at the first ring.

"This better be important, Agent 04. What is it?"

"I found him."

There was silence.

"… What?"

"I found him."

"It has only been one day."

"I know, and I have found him."

Astounded silence. "Excellent, Agent 04. I knew that you were the right person for the job. When can you bring him here?"

Vexen faltered. "As… as soon as I can, my lord."

"How… is he?"

"He… is unconscious."

More silence. Vexen could hear the phone cracking, then a table breaking. "What? Why?"

"I… have yet to figure it out yet."

"Well, find out and call me back." He hung up.

Vexen sighed, and watched the target, now released from the bed, sleep.

* * *

"_So, you ready?"_

"_I don't know about this. It seems dangerous."_

"_This was _your _idea in the first place!"_

"_Yeah, but I didn't think that it would _hurt. _And that we needed permission."_

_Roxas placed his hand on his twin brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ven! I'll make sure that nothing happens to you."_

_Ven looked at his brother. "Oh? And how's that?"_

_Roxas smiled. "I'm going to play a game with him."_

_Ven smiled back. "You never lose your games!"_

_Roxas laughed and took his brother's hand in his. "Exactly. Don't worry, Ven! After this no one will be able to tell us apart!"_

* * *

Axel removed the rag from Riku's mouth. "Now, talk."

Riku spat out the taste of the dirty rag. "Eww… Where has that rag been?"

Axel grinned. "It's none of your concern." He kicked him in the stomach.

"So, what do you want?"

Riku glared at him, which earned him another kick in the stomach.

"Did I say you could look at me?"

Riku looked down. "N-no, sir."

Axel smiled. "That's what I thought. So, what do you want?"

"I…" Riku scrambled for an excuse, anything would be good but the truth. But would it be believable? He just couldn't think of something believable. "…just wanted to check out the casino." He finished lamely.

Axel raised his eyebrow. "Oh?" He picked Riku up from the ground and placed him on the chair.

"Where are my manners? Name's Sinclair."

Riku stayed silent.

"You know… it's common courtesy to give your name when your company gave you theirs."

Riku breathed, "Oh, I know your name."

Axel tapped on the window glass to the driver. "I'm not really surprised. However, I don't know and would like to know your name."

"Um… Miyano."

Axel froze for a second. "Miyano, huh? Nice name. Japanese. First or last?"

"L-last."

"First name would be helpful."

"O-oh. I t-thought only l-last name."

"I'm guessing that you already know it, but sure. Let me fully introduce myself." He opened the fridge in the limo and took out two bottles of beer. He opened one, took a gulp, then opened the other and handed it to Riku.

"U-um, my hands are bound. I can't take it."

Axel sighed, then untied Riku's hands. After Riku was done rubbing them, Axel handed him the beer. "Axel Sinclair."

He took it and took a sip. "Riku Miyano."

"Have we met before?"

Riku looked put the window. Axel was about to say something else, but he didn't except for Riku to take out a fucking knife from his pocket and cut the other ropes. He made a reach for the door handle, and opened the door as soon as his fingers were placed upon it.

"Indeed we have, Mr. Sinclair. We should get together next time and reminisce about the old memories together."

He jumped out the door and rolled into the street. The limo did a turn, and the car door closed.

The small window opened and Xion's voice could be heard. "Should I go back for him, sir?"

Axel smiled at the drink Riku left. "It's fine, Xion. Let's go back to our original route to my meeting with Luxord. I was going to bring Mr. Miyano, but as you can see, he has left our company. Perhaps we'll meet up with him there." He took another swig at his own as Xion stopped the car in front of the Gambler of Fate Casino.

* * *

Sora slammed his hands on the desk. "How can we be out of time?"

Kairi looked at Sora, then to the desk. It was dented. She narrowed her eyes. "He's on his way to Luxord right now. He's probably already there. The plan has failed."

Sora frowned, then smirked. "Yeah, but that was _Luxord's_ plan. This one's mine. Now, how do I get to Ven?"

Kairi sighed. "Alright." She pushed a couple of buttons on the computer keyboard and a card key popped out of the computer drive.

"I believe that this is the card key to the room." She handed him the key and Sora snatched it.

"I owe ya one, Kai." He began to make his way to the elevator. He pushed the button and the elevator doors opened.

Kairi rolled her eyes. She yelled, "You idiot. You don't even know what you're doing, do you?"

Sora looked back and smiled. "You forget. This is Ven were talking about. He'll help me out." The elevator doors closed.

* * *

"I suppose I should be doing something, instead of just watching you sleep." Vexen rose from his chair.

_Perhaps… I could use _that.

He goes to his briefcase, and takes out a small, circular pill. After taking it, he made his way to Ven. He walked over to the bed, and gently took hold of the child's face.

He placed his face in front of his. "Oh? Not breathing?" He placed his hand on his chest. "And yet your heart is still beating." He coined a grin. "Interesting…" He placed his fingers on the mark on the right arm.

"How long has it been? Ten years? Fifteen? Twelve." He stared at the body on the bed with a desirable look in his eye. He placed the pill under his tongue.

"I wonder... Would he be upset if I take you right now?" He placed his lips on the patient, shoving the pill into his mouth and down his throat.

Even though he knew that he would get no response, he wanted more.

He thrust his tongue in his mouth, and began playing with his own tongue. This taste… the sweet taste with a salty after taste. It has been a long time since he flavored such a treat. He felt the lust for the child who he has not seen for so many years was returning. His member was starting to harden. Fuck orders. Why couldn't he take him? He would never know - he was unconscious.

Still exploring the mouth, he used one hand and pulled down the patient's pants. He was just about to unzip own and pull them down when there was a knock at the door. Vexen broke off the kiss just when the door opened.

A spiky haired brunet burst in the door, proclaiming, "I. AM. THE DOCTOR!"

The doctor gave him a confused look. "Excuse me?"

The doctor shook his head, then looked back up. "No worries, no worries, for I, Doctor -" He stopped speaking and ran up to the patient. "Oh my gosh! Ven!" He pulled off Vexen's hands off of Ven's shoulder and placed his own hands to his face. Vexen was confused.

_His name is Ven?_

"Ven? Ven?" The strange haired man began to gently shake him. Eyes fluttered open. Vexen was astounded. All he needed was some shaking?

But he wasn't breathing!

Besides, wouldn't he have awakened after taking hold of his face? And kissing him?

And about to take him?

Before he was so rudely interrupted.

"S-Sora?" Ven spaced out before refocusing again. "Wha… What are you doing here?" He looked around. "Where am I?" He tried to release himself from Sora's grasp, but was too weak to do so. He spaced out again. He closed his eyes and didn't open them. He began to sway, and fell back onto the bed.

"Ven!" Sora gently picked him up, ignoring Vexen completely. "It's okay, I got ya." Carrying him bridal style, he began to make his way back to the elevator.

Vexen could not let him get away. He followed him to the hallway.

He was just about to push the button.

"Hold it."

Sora halted, and turned around with a pissed off look in his eye.

"What?"

Vexen felt small under his gaze and found it difficult to say words. Why? "Where… are you taking my patient?"

Sora turned back from him. "Away from here. You look too shady to be a doctor, so I don't believe you." He reached out to push the button.

A dinging noise was heard, and it stopped him in his tracks. A light appeared from the elevator.

The doors opened, and stepped out Axel Sinclair.

Sora was frozen. He looked at the frail body of Ven in his arms, back to Axel, back to Ven. He tightened his grip on Ven.

He whispered, "Luck might have failed me, but I'm not going down without a fight."

* * *

Interesting.

So, this was Luxord's grand plan on getting Ventus back?

If he was this desperate, then there _must_ be something about him.

But what?

Axel just sighed, picked up Ven from Sora, and kicked him in the stomach. Sora fell down to the floor, crutching his stomach, coughing loudly.

He was ignored as Axel looked up. "I remember you." Axel narrowed his eyes at him before turning to the doctor. "You."

Vexen smiled. "Sinclair." He bowed.

Axel liked that. "What's your name?"

"Even. Doctor Vexen Evens." Vexen rose from his bow. Axel narrowed his eyes at him.

_Was this the one that Demyx was speaking of?_

Axel placed his hand over Ven's face. Feeling the air coming from the mouth, he flashed a very small smile. "Good work, Doctor. He's breathing. It's not much, but it's an improvement." Axel tightened his grip on him. "Status report?"

"I believe I would need more information on said 'guest'." Vexen smirked.

Axel looked back down to Ven. "I am sorry to tell you that I also would need more information on said 'guest'."

"But of course." Vexen paused. Perhaps… "I believe that I have seen your guest before."

Axel raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

Vexen grinned. "I believe that he is…" He trailed off. _What was the name that boy said before? _

"… Ventus Strife."

Axel narrowed his eyes at him. "Says who?" Demyx is in so much trouble.

Vexen waved his hand. "Oh, no one told me. I didn't need to be told. I would never forget the Strife family. After all," He smirked at Axel.

"I was their family doctor."

* * *

Riku walked back to the Gambler of Fate casino, trying to hitch a ride along the way.

When no one picked him up, he took a glance at his watch. It read 12:31.

He sighed. "Guess it's too late to warn Luxord."

Just then, a car pulled over. The driver looked down from their sunglasses, and pulled out a gun.

"Get in the car."

Riku opened the passenger door, and got inside.

"Took you long enough."

The driver sighed and lowered her gun. "I know, okay? I was busy! Jesus Christ, you didn't even walk a mile, and you've been out here for, what, twenty-five minutes? It's your fault anyway. You're so stupid." The driver stuck out her tongue.

"True that. So…" Riku looked at his companion.

"Who are you?"

* * *

"_That wasn't too bad." Ven poked his arm._

_Roxas smiled. "No. No it wasn't. But, don't forget what the man said."_

_Ven shook his head._

"_I won't. Besides…" he looked up to see their parents' shadows at the window and frowned. Cloud was yelling at Tifa again. _

_But there was a new shadow in the window. _

"_We have bigger problems."_

* * *

"Family doctor?" Axel was confused.

"Family doctor…" Ven murmured. Vexen smiled.

Axel looked at him, and he opened his eyes. He blinked, then widened his eyes at his holder. He tries to release himself from Axel's hold, but was too weak to do so. "Mr. Sinclair! Um, oh, um… did I say something?"

"No… No you didn't." Axel said. Then he dropped him to the floor, on top of Sora. Ven winced as he got up, dragged Sora to the wall, and began to shake him, trying to wake him up.

"But it is true, I was their family doctor." Vexen smirked, then looked at the two people near the wall.

"Ventus Strife, son of Cloud and Tifa Strife. Twin brother of Roxas Strife, who, if my memory serves correct, has been missing for…" He smiled. "Twelve years as of yesterday."

Axel frowned. "Yesterday?" He looked at Ven, who was murmuring something in Sora's ear. He began to stir slightly. Ven slapped him and he jolted. He was wide awake now.

"Ventus, was yesterday your birthday?"

He looked up, but didn't answer. Sora did.

"It was."

He takes Ven's hand and dashes to the elevator.

Quickly, he pushes the elevator button and waves goodbye as the doors shut close.

* * *

As soon as the elevator came whooshing down, Ven dropped down to the floor. He grabbed his head, an earsplitting headache suddenly taking hold.

Sora was about to say something when his stomach grumbled.

"Man, I am so hungry." Sora complained.

Ven smiled. "Of course you are. When aren't you?" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Thanks, Sora."

Sora grinned as he helped him up. "No problem. It's what friends do. Besides, it's your luck that saved us."

Ven rolled his eyes and looked down. "if I'm so lucky, where are my pants?"

Sora laughed as the elevator doors opened.

Instead of walking out, they were pulled out of the elevator by the red head that Sora loves so much and dragged into a corner.

Or at least for Ven. Sora broke out of her grasp, picked Ven - who had fallen back asleep - up from the corner and calmly walked out of the casino and into his car, the girl following.

After safely securing Ven in the back car, he got inside the passenger seat and turned to face her, who had taken the wheel. "Kairi! What the hell?"

She didn't say a word, but held out her hand.

Sora fumbled in his pocket, looking for the keys to the car. Finding them, he got them out and handed them to her.

But before she could take them, there was a tap on the door, and the window glass shattered as Axel placed his hand inside the car and unlocked the door. Unbuckling Ven, he turned to the driver.

"Thanks, Xion."

Sora turned to face the driver as she pointed a gun to his head and removed the red wig from her head. She gave a grin. "If she can do it, so could I."

Sora nodded, and held his hands in the air.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Ehh, I tried."

* * *

"How much do you wanna bet that Luxord is gonna kill us?" Riku asked, rubbing his head.

Kairi shrugged. "I'm not sure. Hopefully, with Ven's luck Sora will get away with his plan. Hopefully, nothing bad happened while I went back to pick you up." She turned at a corner. "We're minutes from the casino."

Riku leaned back on his chair. "I'm not so sure about going back yet. What's he gonna do to us? Give us hell for listening to Sora, that's for sure."

Kairi didn't answer, but murmured softly - so that Riku couldn't hear - "Maybe for you."

She stopped in front of their corporate building cover, and smiled. "Don't worry about it. After all, Luxord's plan isn't over yet." She got out of the car and heard Riku follow her.

"It's all part of the plan."


	5. Author's Note

Hello fellow readers!

I apologize, this isn't an update.

I'm sorry to say that the plot bunnies just stopped hopping. I'm a person that weaves around through fandoms. Once I get into something I get into it OBSESSIVELY. Fanart, fanfics, merch, you name it. It takes over my life. But once I leave said fandom, that's just about it. Which means that it's hard for me to continue working on stories for the fandoms I've floated away from. (Excluding 'Kingdom Hearts', but then again I'm just not inspired.)

So I was wondering...

Would you like for me to tell you what I had for the plot and save you the suspense? Save for 'Facsimile', I don't know if I should really continue them.

I have a poll up on my profile or, if you're on the mobile like I am, you could always leave a review telling me what you want. I aim to please after all.

Oh! That reminds me. If someone reports me for posting author's notes (that has happened to me before - he/she was really mad that I wasn't giving an update) then I'll just... I'll leave the fic in question alone. And you'll just never know what was going to happen. Sorry, but this is really important.

I need to know. To know what you want so I can deliver.

Poll or review - it's your choice.

Thank you so for taking the time to read this.


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